Is Thermal Management the Key to Successful EV Adoption? | Utilimarc Fleet FYIs

Gretchen Reese (00:12):

Hey there. Welcome to the Fleet FYIs podcast, the weekly podcast by Utilimarc, that reveals how you can make the most of your data for smarter fleet management. My name is Gretchen and every week you'll hear from me or some of the industry's finest in candid conversations that will not only shed some light on over two decades worth of fleet data insights, but also some of the industry's hottest talking points and key metric analysis with the aim to help you better understand your fleet from every angle.

(00:52):

But before we begin, if this is the first time you've heard our show, thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad you decided to come along for the ride with us. But I've got a quick favor to ask you. Once you finish today's episode, if you could take a few minutes to leave us a review on your favorite podcasting platform, we would really appreciate it. Give us a rating, five stars I hope, or tell us what you liked or leave us a comment or a question about what you've heard in today's episode. If we haven't yet covered a topic that you're interested in hearing more about, let us know. We would be happy to go over it in detail in a later show.

(01:34):

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Fleet FYI's podcast. It's been an interesting week, I think, to look at electric vehicle technology. And this is something that I think is something that will always be ever evolving no matter what part of the industry you're in in terms of fleet and however forward electric vehicles can get. And one thing I wanted to mention today is that in this crusade towards decarbonization, electric vehicles with lithium ion batteries can offer a huge opportunity for moving away from fossil fuels.

(02:10):

Now, again, we know that this is not the perfect solution for every fleet, but just hear me out here. These batteries offer the dual benefit of a high powered weight ratio and a high energy efficiency making them an ideal power source for electric vehicles. Now, this is something we've touched on on the podcast before, but I think that this whole topic surrounding thermal management is something that can be delved into even more so, especially on this show.

(02:36):

Now, with electric vehicles requiring such high processing power and fast charging times, battery temperature's a common concern and a reason for accelerated degradation. High temperatures can cause irreversible damage to batteries, which can ultimately affect the battery's state of health, its performance, and its safety, three things that you really don't want to have happen, at least not at a quick rate. But again, as we begin to rely on these batteries to decarbonize the transport sector and meet global CO2 emissions goals in the upcoming years and even decades, it's imperative to implement thermal management systems overall. It's even been shown that by optimizing these systems, battery life, cycle cost, and carbon footprint can be reduced by 27 and 25%, respectively. Let's dig in to today's show.

(03:57):

So to kick off this episode, let's start with thermal management in itself. What exactly is thermal management, this term that seems almost a little bit more like we're dealing with heat itself rather than batteries? Well, the life cycle of lithium ion batteries relies heavily on stress factors like storing conditions, operating temperature, and humidity levels. Unfavorable conditions can affect the battery's performance, safety and capacity like we already mentioned, and it can ultimately shorten its working lifetime due to chemical side reactions, such as solid electrolyte interface, which is otherwise known as SEI, if you were going to look it up online, and electrolyte decomposition. Along with temperatures that are too high, operating temperatures that are too low, think cold weather states or cold weather regions, i.e Canada or my own native Minnesota, could negatively affect batteries as well causing lithium ion plating and battery degradation. Again, not so good.

(04:57):

But to avoid these ramifications, it's been found that optimal operating temperature for lithium ion batteries ranges from about 288 to 208 Kelvin, which for my Celsius users, that would be around negative 66 to 14 degrees Celsius, almost 15 degrees Celsius there. And in terms of Fahrenheit, it's anywhere from minus 85 to around 56 degrees, give or take a little bit. But the thing is is this is where thermal management really becomes a key factor in battery upkeep in general. Now, there's a variety of thermal management systems available today allowing manufacturers to choose their best option based on pricing, dimensioning, and rate of heat removal.

(05:43):

The two most common systems on the market for EV batteries today are air cooling and indirect liquid cooling. And air cooling is actually the cheaper of the two options and it's simpler to integrate into a battery pack itself. The strategy uses airflow to cool down battery cells, which is simple and inexpensive, but often it can't remove heat at a sufficient rate. Indirect liquid cooling utilizes flow channels of a liquid coolant to remove heat much faster than the air cooling method. It's often preferred because of its efficacy in cooling battery cells. But as it requires a complex arrangement of flow channels, it's inevitably more expensive to build. But that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, at least I wouldn't think, more complicated of course, higher price point.

(06:30):

But, the thing to remember here is that decarbonizing the transport sector from fossil fuels will take time. And it also won't be the only solution for every single fleet out there. That is one thing I always like to stress and always want to stress with these EV episodes is that you really need to understand that, again, sustainability is multifaceted, whether it's you do the most with the data you already have, or you look for sustainable technologies. Either way is the right way so long as it makes the most sense for your fleet.

(07:00):

But anyways, back to the decarbonization side of the transport sector. One of the most effective ways to lower the carbon footprint of a lithium ion battery is by increasing the battery's lifetime. Sounds pretty simple, right? It was found in a study that doubling a lithium ion battery's lifetime results in a 23% decrease in overall carbon footprint, which is pretty amazing. And whilst other strategies did help decrease carbon footprints as well, none were nearly as effective as a lengthened life cycle. Now, the benefits of increasing battery lifespan are twofold. Now, along with decreasing carbon footprint, which is already a big win in making electric vehicles even more sustainable, but overall cost could also be decreased by 33% with a doubled lifespan. This is especially noteworthy as a major challenge in EV production and adoption is the high cost of lithium ion batteries in itself. That's what makes this purchase pricing so high.

(07:57):

And in this case, a longer lifespan means less in carbon intensity, lower acquisition cost, which further encourages customers to switch to electric vehicles, whether you say guilt free or anxiety free, either could work here. And all things considered, it's easy to see, at least I think, why efficient thermal management systems are crucial and ultimately decarbonizing transport. Monitoring the conditions of these batteries not only optimizes their working lifespan like we already talked about, but it also counteracts the environmental impacts and the greenhouse gas emissions caused during production.

(08:33):

When comparing thermal management systems, it's also important to note that the immersion cooling method resulted in the least amount of CO2 emissions over a battery's lifetime, with air cooling actually resulting with the largest carbon footprint. Now it is up to each manufacturer, however, whether they're willing to pay greater upfront costs for more efficient, but complex, systems to benefit from an ultimately longer battery life cycle, and it always will be. It's all about how much you're willing to spend and if it's a technology aspect that you're actually willing to pursue and willing to work with.

(09:06):

Now, the big question is, could battery thermal management be the key for electric vehicle success? Well, at the end of the day, the better we manage battery temperatures and delay aging and decay, the greater impact we can have on cutting down greenhouse gas emissions as a whole. Whilst EV implementation is a current focus in decarbonizing the transport sector of meeting goals set by the Paris Agreement, a logical next step is making electric vehicles as green as possible from production, especially, to operation to disposal. And as the market demands for higher capacity battery packs and rapid charging, thermal management will become a key consideration in EV manufacturing. Though OEMs are currently more focused on reducing production costs for lithium ion batteries, it's actually been proven to have far significantly less impact when compared with the results of extending the battery's life cycle in general.

(10:32):

Now, for these reasons, thermal management shows great promise in optimizing lithium ion battery performance over a longer span of time and with a shift in focus to the aging processes in batteries and how to prevent performance and capacity fading, it's likely that thermal monitoring will play a significant role in decarbonizing transport and making electric vehicles as green as possible.

(10:55):

But, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you think thermal battery management could be the key for EV success? Do you want to hear more on this topic? Let me know. I'd love to hear from you. You can send me an email, tag me on LinkedIn. Use the hashtag Utilimarc Fleet FYIs. You can even send me a carrier pigeon. We all know I don't judge here. But anyways, that is all from me. Until next Friday, I look forward to speaking with you again then. Ciao.

(11:29):

Hey, there. I think this is the time that I should cue the virtual high five because you've just finished listening to another episode of the Fleet FYI's podcast. If you're already wanting more content, head over to utilimarc.com, which is utilimarc with a C, U-T-I-M-A-R-C.com for this episode's show notes and extra insights coming straight from our analysts to you. That's all from me this week, so until next time I'll catch you later.