Improving the performance of electric vehicle batteries with a cold plate-based thermal management system

Tekin V., Korkmaz S. A., Ezan M. A., Karaoglan M. U., Çolpan C. Ö.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND FLUID FLOW, cilt.120, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

Özet

This study develops and experimentally validates an innovative cold-plate-based Battery Thermal Management System to enhance the operational performance and longevity of Li-Ion batteries in electric vehicles. A highfidelity lumped-parameter model, developed in MATLAB/Simulink to predict the thermoelectric behaviour of the system, was validated against experimental data with a predictive error margin of less than 0.26%. The efficacy of the proposed Battery Thermal Management System was demonstrated under both static and dynamic conditions. The system achieved significant thermal stability, reducing the battery temperature by over 28% at a constant 2C discharge rate. Furthermore, the proposed system demonstrated superior thermal management under dynamic loads, mitigating temperature increases by 29.52% during the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure and 41.15% during the Istanbul Driving Cycle. This effective thermal control directly translates to enhanced electrical performance, stabilising the open-circuit voltage and internal resistance, thereby slowing the degradation of the State of Charge. Ultimately, these integrated improvements resulted in a tangible increase in the vehicle's operational range, estimated to be 1.9% to 2.9%. This study establishes the proposed cold-plate architecture as a viable, efficient, and benchmark solution for next-generation battery thermal management.