Hyundai Mobis has developed a new battery cell cooling material to prevent battery overheating during ultra-fast charging of electric vehicles (EVs).
This material, called “Pulsating Heat Pipe” (PHP), is made of aluminum alloy and refrigerant and is placed between battery cells to manage the internal battery temperature during rapid charging.
By stabilizing thermal management and effectively dissipating heat, even when heat generation spikes during ultra-fast charging, PHP technology is expected to significantly reduce EV charging times.
Heat pipes are metal-tube-shaped thermal conductors that improve heat transfer efficiency between two surfaces and are commonly used in cooling electronic devices, such as computer CPUs and smartphones. Pulsating heat pipes, in particular, dissipate heat through the vibration and circulation of refrigerant inside the tube, maintaining performance regardless of gravity — a critical feature for high-speed moving vehicles.
With more than ten times the heat transfer efficiency of standard aluminum, PHPs rapidly transfer heat from overheated battery cells to external cooling systems.
Battery systems (BSA) typically consist of battery management systems (BMS), cooling fans, and various electronic devices combined with multiple battery modules (BMA). These modules, containing stacked battery cells, generate electrical energy and require optimized cooling to prevent overheating.
Hyundai Mobis integrated PHPs between individual battery cells, rapidly transferring heat to cooling blocks and maintaining stable temperatures at the module level. This innovation provides an effective solution for managing battery heat during ultra-fast charging.
The company has applied a press process enabling large-scale continuous production in the manufacturing stage, simplifying the PHP manufacturing process and reducing production costs. To facilitate mounting on vehicle batteries, it achieved PHPs with a thickness of only 0.8 mm, which is significantly thinner and has a larger area than standard heat pipes (approximately 6 mm). This enhancement in product quality aims to promote the adoption of EVs.
Filed Under: Technology News