Heavy weight Transport Goes Electric With Advanced Battery Thermal Tech

2023-04-27

Major commercial truck manufacturers are pioneering sophisticated thermal management systems to enable high-performance, heavy-duty electric vehicles. New energy truck makers like Volvo, Daimler and China's Lishen Battery have introduced advanced temperature control platforms to optimize power, range and safety for large transport battery packs.

Volvo Group and Samsung SDI partnered to develop a modular battery pack for Volvo's electric trucks with a liquid cooling design. The pack uses plates to channel dielectric fluid between battery cells, absorbing heat and maintaining optimal temperature. Volvo claims their liquid-cooled pack enables 600kW charging and can discharge at 3MW, 50% higher than air-cooled systems.

Daimler's eCascadia electric semi truck features a immersion cooling system pumping non-conductive fluid directly over battery cells. Daimler says their immersion cooling method can transfer heat up to 100 times more efficiently than air, enabling high density battery configurations in a compact space. The eCascadia pack provides up to 700kWh with a range up to 250 miles per charge.

China's Lishen Battery develops high-performance battery systems for heavy-duty new energy vehicles. Their latest SWB9500 G3 electric coach battery provides up to 960kWh with a graphene heat conduction plate based cooling system. The heat plates rapidly transfer heat from battery cells, enabling a 15 minute fast charge and temperature regulation precise to within 0.5°C for maximum efficiency and safety.

While long haul transport electrification is just emerging, robust and intelligent thermal management is already proving essential. Heavy duty vehicle use demands huge amounts of power and range, straining the limits of current lithium-ion technology. Advanced temperature control platforms from Volvo, Daimler, Lishen and others are driving progress, allowing higher density batteries, faster charging and minimizing degradation even under high loads. Their innovative cooling designs could help accelerate the mass market viability of fully electric commercial trucks, buses and coaches.