Patent attributes
A battery thermal system for use in a vehicle having a power plant, an air conditioning system and a battery pack, and a method of operation, is disclosed. The battery thermal system may include a refrigerant-to-coolant heat exchanger that selectively receives a refrigerant from the vehicle air conditioning system; a battery radiator located adjacent to a cooling fan; a valve that receives a liquid coolant from the battery pack and selectively redirects the liquid coolant to the refrigerant-to-coolant heat exchanger and the battery radiator; and an electric pump for pumping the liquid coolant through the battery pack, the valve, the refrigerant-to-coolant heat exchanger and the battery radiator. The battery thermal system may also include a battery coolant heater for selectively heating the coolant that flows into the battery pack.
