Thermal Management of Lithium-Ion Battery Packs for Electric Vehicles: Comparative Analysis of Air Cooling, Liquid Cooling, and Phase Change Material Hybrid Strategies for Capacity Retention and Cycle Life

Abstract

The thermal management system of a lithium-ion battery pack is the single most influential design factor for battery cycle life, safety, and energy availability in electric vehicles, as the electrochemical degradation rate of lithium-ion cells follows an approximately exponential Arrhenius relationship with temperature — halving or doubling with every approximately 10°C decrease or increase above the optimal operating range of 15–45°C. This paper presents a comprehensive comparative study of five battery thermal management system (BTMS) strategies — forced air cooling, indirect liquid cooling via cold plate, direct liquid cooling, phase change material (PCM) combined with liquid cooling hybrid, and direct immersion cooling — applied to a 20.48 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack (16S4P, 51.2 V, 400 Ah, 64 prismatic cells) representative of a small electric passenger vehicle application in Indian conditions. Thermal simulations using ANSYS Fluent CFD coupled with an equivalent circuit battery model are validated against experimental measurements on a 16-cell test assembly with forced air and liquid cooling capability.

Cite as:

S. J. Mulani. (2026). Thermal Management of Lithium-Ion Battery Packs for Electric Vehicles: Comparative Analysis of Air Cooling, Liquid Cooling, and Phase Change Material Hybrid Strategies for Capacity Retention and Cycle Life. Recent Trends in Production Engineering, 9(2), 50–59. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21804068