A rapid self-heating battery pack achieved by novel driving circuits of electric vehicle

Abstract The widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) is challenged by the applicability of batteries at low temperatures. To improve the user experience on EVs, thermal management system is designed to heat batteries before driving in cold circumstance. Currently, the offered heating system comes at a cost, insufficient heating rates. This study investigates heating performance on batteries with driving circuits of EVs, and proposed a triple-module separated invert (TMSI) mode to rapidly heat the battery pack, with the batteries divided into three groups and connected to the bridges of inverter separately. The TMSI mode achieves a temperature rise rate of 8.6 °C/min on batteries through the pulse currents generated by driving circuits during EV parking. Besides, the battery pack can maintain an appropriate temperature during EV driving with adjustable heating power. This work provides a promising method to rapidly heat the batteries at ignorable cost, and enhance the acceptance of EVs in areas with cold climates.