A heating system for a vehicle having a power plant with a power plant coolant loop, and a method of operation, is disclosed. The heating system may include a HVAC module and a heater core coolant loop. The HVAC module includes a heater core. The heater core coolant loop includes a three-way valve having an inlet engaging the heater core for receiving a coolant, a first outlet that directs the coolant back into the heater core coolant loop, and a second outlet that directs the coolant into the power plant; a coolant pump for pumping the coolant through the heater core coolant loop; and a coolant heater located upstream of the heater core that selectively heats coolant flowing therethrough. Also, a coolant line receives the coolant from a heater core outlet of the power plant and directs the coolant into the heater core coolant loop.

According to one aspect, a thermal system of a vehicle which provides cooling to within the vehicle, e.g., within a driver and passenger carrying cabin or compartment, is effectively leveraged to provide cooling capabilities to autonomous vehicle systems. Some coolant flowing through a coolant loop included in the thermal system of a vehicle may be diverted to an offshoot loop which provides cooling to coolant included in a coolant loop configured to cool autonomous vehicle systems, e.g., a compute system that is part of an autonomous vehicle. The coolant from the thermal system of the vehicle may flow past coolant from the coolant loop configured to cool autonomous vehicle systems, and the cooled coolant from the coolant loop configured to cool the autonomous vehicle systems may flow near the autonomous vehicle systems to cool the autonomous vehicle systems.

Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

A cooling system for a vehicle includes a cooling apparatus including a radiator and a first water pump connected by a coolant line and circulating a coolant to the coolant line, a battery module provided on a battery coolant line selectively connected to the coolant line through a first valve, and a first chiller provided on the battery coolant line between the first valve and the battery coolant line. The first chiller is connected to a refrigerant line of the air-conditioning apparatus and is configured to heat-exchange the selective inflowed coolant with the refrigerant supplied from the air-conditioning apparatus to adjust a temperature of the coolant. The cooling system further includes an automatic driving controller connected to the coolant line so that the coolant is circulated inside, wherein the battery module or the automatic driving controller is cooled selectively by at least one cooling mode.

A control system includes a refrigerant recovery module and at least one of a valve control module and a compressor control module. The refrigerant recovery module is configured to generate a refrigerant recovery signal to initiate a recovery of refrigerant from a first heat exchanger of a thermal system for an electric vehicle, and to stop the refrigerant recovery based on a temperature of refrigerant circulating through the first heat exchanger. The valve control module is configured to open a first valve to allow refrigerant to flow through the first heat exchanger in response to the refrigerant recovery signal. The compressor control module is configured to increase a speed of a compressor disposed upstream from the first heat exchanger in response to the refrigerant recovery signal.

A thermal management system for controlling the temperature in a cabin and an energy storage system of an electric vehicle including a vehicle component is provided. The system provides for a heat exchanger arranged to heat the energy storage system, a heater for heating the cabin and the heat exchanger, a first valve arranged to receive a fluid that has been used for cooling the vehicle component, and to provide fluid to the heater, a temperature sensor arranged to measure the temperature of the fluid entering the first valve, a second valve receiving the fluid from the heater and having a first outlet in fluid communication with the cabin, and a second outlet in fluid communication with the heat exchanger, and a control unit.

A thermal management system for a vehicle includes a plurality of fluid flow circuits including a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) circuit circulating a flow of refrigerant therethrough and including an evaporator, a chiller heat exchanger, a first expansion valve located upstream of the evaporator, a second expansion valve located upstream of the chiller heat exchanger, and a heat exchanger located fluidly upstream of the expansion valves. A propulsion cooling circuit circulates a flow of coolant therethrough which is utilized to condition one or more propulsion components of the vehicle. The flow of coolant is directed through the heat exchanger, thus subcooling the flow of refrigerant. A controller is operably connected to one or more control points of the thermal management system and is configured to adjust the one or more control points to achieve a target amount of subcooling of the flow of refrigerant at the heat exchanger.

This application relates to an electric vehicle, a thermal management system, and a method for controlling same. The thermal management system includes: a passenger compartment thermal management subsystem, including a compressor, a first throttle, and an evaporator configured to refrigerate the passenger compartment, where the compressor, the first throttle, and the evaporator are controlled to communicate with each other in sequence to form a first refrigerant circuit, the passenger compartment thermal management subsystem further includes a condenser, and the condenser is disposed between the compressor and the first throttle and able to exchange heat with the first refrigerant circuit; a heat emitting component thermal management subsystem, including a heat emitting component and a cooling water tank configured to cool the heat emitting component, and a control valve system, connected to the passenger compartment thermal management subsystem and the heat emitting component thermal management subsystem.

The invention relates to a circuit (1) for coolant (47) comprising a main duct (3), a first branch (4), a second branch (5) and a third branch (25), the main duct (3) comprising a compression device (2) and a main heat exchanger (8) arranged to be traversed by an external air flow (EF), the first branch (4) comprising a first heat exchanger (13) thermally coupled to a loop (14) for heat transfer liquid (48) and an accumulation device (15), the second branch (5) comprising a second heat exchanger (17), the third branch (25) comprising a third heat exchanger (26), characterised in that the first branch (4) and the second branch (5) are parallel and meet at a convergence point (6), the first branch (4) and the third branch (25) meet at a first junction point (19). Application to motor vehicles.

A vehicle air conditioner installed in a vehicle includes a condenser that causes heat exchange between a coolant and outside air, and a spray nozzle that sprays water to a portion near the condenser that are provided in each of a front side accommodation space positioned in a lower front portion of the vehicle and a rear side accommodation space positioned in lower rear portion of the vehicle.