The liquid heating and cooling system in the Chevrolet Volt battery not only enabled General Motors Co. to offer a long warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles, but it also gave engineers more room for battery cells since it’s more compact than air-cooled systems, but it also.
Standard auto coolant circulates through 144 metal plates, called fins, between each of the Volt hybrid battery’s 288 cells. The fins are only 1mm thick, but coolant still circulates through channels in them. When the battery needs to warm up, a heating coil warms the fluid.
Batteries in electric cars from startup Tesla Motors Inc. are also liquid-cooled. The Nissan Leaf’s batteries are air-cooled.
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