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Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) utilize a High Voltage (HV) battery pack to improve fuel economy by maximizing the capture of vehicle kinetic energy for reuse. Consequently, these HV battery packs experience frequent and rapid charge-discharge cycles. The heat generated during these cycles must be managed effectively to maintain battery cell performance and cell life. The HV battery pack cooling system must keep the HV battery pack temperature below a design target value and maintain a uniform temperature across all of the cells in the HV battery pack. Herein, the authors discuss some of the design points of the air cooled HV battery packs in Ford Motor Company’s current model C-Max and Fusion HEVs. In these vehicles, the flow of battery cooling air was required to not only provide effective cooling of the battery cells, but to simultaneously cool a direct current high voltage to low voltage (DC-DC) converter module.

Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) prototypes are based off production platforms. Several new systems are added to the vehicle, either to perform hybrid functions or to support them and enhance vehicle performance and fuel economy. All these systems are electrically connected in the vehicle with overlay wiring harnesses. Architecture of overlay wiring harness for the HEV requires identification of new systems and working out their electrical connectivity requirements. This dictates the level of changes required in the vehicle electrical system. Harnesses are built based on the circuit design and location of these systems in the vehicle. EMI requirements, routing and packaging challenges are resolved during the overlay process and testing of the prototype. This paper presents the process of harness design, its architecture and integration challenges in the vehicle.

Automotive vehicle manufactures are implementing electrification technologies in many vehicle line-ups to improve fuel economy and meet emission standards. As a part of electrification, High Voltage (HV) battery packs are integrated alongside internal combustion engines. Recent generation HV batteries allow extensive power usage, by allowing greater charge and discharge currents and broader State of Charge (SOC) ranges. Heat generated during the charge-discharge cycles must be managed effectively to maintain battery cell performance and life. This situation requires a cooling system with higher efficiency than earlier generation electrified powertrains. There are multiple thermal solutions for cooling HV battery packs including forced air, liquid, direct refrigerant, and passive cooling. The most common types of HV battery pack cooling, for production vehicles, are air cooled using cabin interior air and liquid cooled using powertrain cooling systems.