Automakers’ Electric Vehicle Platform Strategies and its Impacts on Battery Package Design and Thermal Management System

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The battery package remains the key factor for the widespread of the electric vehicles as it is responsible for its high cost, limited driving range for a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) - or in an electric mode, for an Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) or a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEVs) - and a long charging time. It is widely known that the interior space of an EV and the energy capacity of their battery – and hence its driving range - is directly related to the way they are designed and produced, i.e. on what type of platform they are based. Basically, the electric vehicle can be underpinned on the traditional internal combustion vehicles (ICEVs) platforms, which we call the Adapted Electric Platform (AEP), where the main objective is to reduce costs by sharing parts and components with their ICEVs counterparts. Another approach is the development of a platform exclusively for electric vehicles, fully meeting their requirements, which we call the New Electric Platform (NEP). EVs based on traditional ICEV’s platforms compromise part of its interior space to accommodate the battery pack. In addition, the battery pack design is more complex, mounted in the spaces available between the components, which leads to less energy capacity and limited driving range. Moreover, the type of platform can affect the thermal system management of an EV. Normally, the thermal system of an EV underpinned on a dedicated electric platform or NEP goes through not only the powertrain system, but also comprises the battery pack. The aim of this article is to identify and analyze the connections between the strategy of the electric vehicle platform and the EV’s battery system capacity and design, and the thermal management system, from a selected group of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). In this research, some of the selected cars are underpinned on new electric platforms and some on adapted electric platforms. The main hypothesis of this article is that the type of platform adopted by the automakers directly affects the design of the battery pack and the way it is mounted on the chassis, the interior space of a vehicle and also the thermal management approach. This paper is based on data collected from the documents of automotive companies, consulting companies, specialized automotive press, magazines releases, and academic literature.