Electric vehicle thermal management system
First Claim
1. A method of managing thermal loads within an electric vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- cooling a heat exchanger with a refrigeration system;
circulating a first coolant within a first coolant loop, said first coolant loop in thermal communication with said heat exchanger and in thermal communication with an energy storage system;
circulating a second coolant within a second coolant loop, said second coolant loop in thermal communication with said heat exchanger and in thermal communication with a vehicle HVAC subsystem; and
circulating a third coolant within a third coolant loop, said third coolant loop in thermal communication with a vehicle drive motor.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for managing thermal loads within an electric vehicle using an efficient thermal management system (100) that utilizes a single heat exchanger (133) is provided. A refrigeration subsystem (103) cools the heat exchanger (133). A first coolant loop (139) in thermal communication with the heat exchanger (133) is used to cool the energy storage system (137). A second coolant loop (151) corresponding to the HVAC subsystem (107) is also in thermal communication with the heat exchanger (133). Preferably a third coolant loop (109) corresponding to the drive motor cooling subsystem (101) is coupleable to the HVAC coolant loop (151), thus providing an efficient means of providing heat to the HVAC subsystem (107).
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Citations
6 Claims
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1. A method of managing thermal loads within an electric vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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cooling a heat exchanger with a refrigeration system; circulating a first coolant within a first coolant loop, said first coolant loop in thermal communication with said heat exchanger and in thermal communication with an energy storage system; circulating a second coolant within a second coolant loop, said second coolant loop in thermal communication with said heat exchanger and in thermal communication with a vehicle HVAC subsystem; and circulating a third coolant within a third coolant loop, said third coolant loop in thermal communication with a vehicle drive motor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification