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Battery Heating System for Electric Vehicles 2015-01-0248

Published 04/14/2015

Hiroyasu Baba and Koji Kawasaki

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Hideomi Kawachi
Denso Corporation

CITATION: Baba, H., Kawasaki, K., and Kawachi, H., "Battery Heating System for Electric Vehicles," SAE Technical Paper 2015-01-0248,
2015, doi:10.4271/2015-01-0248.
Copyright © 2015 SAE International

Abstract system. Stuart et al. [6] tested battery heating performance using AC
power source. These possibilities are divided into two main
We have developed Li-ion battery heating system which is direct
categories which are indirect heating methods by using air or liquid,
resistance heating for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid
etc. and direct heating methods such as AC heating, etc. Ji et al. [7]
vehicles (PHEV) and electric vehicles (EV) by use of an inverter and
introduced four criteria for battery heating strategy evaluation:
a motor. One relay is added between a positive terminal of Li-ion
(1) electrical energy consumption in terms of battery capacity, or
battery and one-phase (e.g. U-phase) of a three-phase motor. When
equivalently, in terms of driving range of EVs, (2) heating time,
additional relay is turned on, the motor coils, IGBTs (Insulated-gate
(3) effect of heating operation on system durability including battery
bipolar transistor) and diodes in the inverter and a smoothing
cycle life and (4) system cost. The best battery heating strategy is low
capacitor for the inverter constitute buck-boost DC to DC converter.
energy consumption, short heating time, long system durability and
IGBTs are controlled to repeat charging and discharging between the
low system cost. In general, the energy consumption and the heating
battery and the smoothing capacitor. We made a system prototype and
speed of air heating are worse than liquid heating but the system
examined battery heating capability. And also we optimized charging
endurance and the system cost of air heating is more reasonable than
and discharging frequency from impedance and current to improve
liquid heating. On the other hand, the heating performance of the
heat generation. This method can increase battery temperature from
direct heating is higher than the indirect heating due to low heat loss
−20 degrees C to 0 degrees C in 5 minutes and can extend EV driving
(i.e. liquid heating and air heating system have heat exchange loss.).
range. Additionally the system can be installed into all HEV, PHEV
and EV.
In this paper, we focused on direct resistance heating and we have
developed a battery heating system which can achieve low energy
Introduction consumption, high performance, low effect on system durability and
low system cost.
Electric vehicles (EVs) use Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery for the high
voltage battery due to high energy density compared to the other
batteries such as Lead-acid battery or Nickel-metal Hydride battery. Battery Heating System Concept
[1] However the power output of Li-ion battery decreases at
extremely low temperature (e.g. −20 degrees C) because of high System Configuration
internal resistance. That is why EV driving range drops at −20 Standard EVs consist mainly of high voltage battery, inverter and
degrees C. One of countermeasures against short driving range in three-phase motor which are shown in Figure 1. The battery heating
cold weather is battery heating that increases battery temperature to system utilizes the motor and the inverter to drive EV. This system
more than 0 degrees C at which EVs can recover the power output. needs to add only system main relay 2 (SMR2) which is connected
There are a lot of different possibilities to warm high voltage batteries between positive terminal of the battery and one-phase of the motor
for EVs. Rao et al. [1] put together battery heating methods which (U-phase in Figure 1). When SMR2 is turned on, the motor coils,
utilize air or liquid which is heated by a heater and a heat exchanger. IGBTs (Insulated-gate bipolar transistor) and diodes in the inverter
Steffke et al. [2] evaluated air-warmed battery system with the and a smoothing capacitor for the inverter constitute buck-boost DC
vehicle HVAC system. Javani et al. [3] simulated battery thermal to DC converter. An electric current flows in the battery by means of
management system by use of PCMs (Phase Change Materials). repeating charging and discharging between the battery and the
Zhang et al. [4] used PCS (Phase Change Slurry) for battery cooling smoothing capacitor and then the battery is heated up directly.
and heating. Cosley et al. [5] reported AC resistance heater pad Additionally, an electric current flows in the motor coils, the IGBTs
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and the diodes. Therefore, there are possibilities to heat up

transmission oil and coolant as well as the battery at low temperature.
The battery heating system can be applied to all kinds of HEV, PHEV
and EV. However, the system needs additional SMR and cannot
warm the battery while driving.
Figure 3. Switching Signal of V- and W- during Charging

Figure 4 shows control method while discharging from the smoothing

capacitor to the battery. The capacitor is discharged to the battery by
switching IGBTs (V+ and W+) arranged on the upper side of V-phase
and W-phase as shown in Figure 4. When V+ and W+ are turned on,
an electric current will flow in the opposite direction in comparison
with charging. After that V+ and W+ will be turned off and the
current will continue to flow via the diodes which are located on the
Figure 1. Circuit Diagram of Battery Heating System Using Motor and
lower side of V-phase and W-phase. Because one side of the motor
Inverter to Drive Electric Vehicle
coils (V-phase and W-phase) are electrically connected to the
negative terminal of the battery at this time, the smoothing capacitor
Operating Principle voltage is bucked (e.g. from 600V (Capacitor) to 300V (Battery)) and
In the case where the conditions for battery heating (vehicle stop, low the capacitor is discharged to the battery (Figure 5).
temperature and enough battery storage (e.g. SOC (State of Charge)
>40%)) are cleared, the SMR2 is turned on and battery heating
operation starts. First, the smoothing capacitor is charged from the
battery via the motor coils by switching IGBTs (V- and W-) placed on
the lower side of V-phase and W-phase as shown in Figure 2. When
V- and W- are turned on, an electric current will flow in the route
shown in Figure 2. The motor coils will store energy from the battery
at this time. After that V- and W- will be turned off and the current
will flow from the battery to the smoothing capacitor via the diodes
which are located on the upper side of V-phase and W-phase. At this
time, smoothing capacitor voltage (VCap) is decided by the battery
voltage (VBatt), switch on-time (Ton) and switch off-time (Toff)
indicated in Figure 3. The smoothing capacitor voltage is boosted
(e.g. from 300V (Battery) to 600V (Capacitor)) and can be controlled
by switch on-time and off-time.

Figure 4. Control Method while Discharging from Smoothing Capacitor to Battery

Figure 5. Switching Signal of V- and W- during Discharging

Charging and Discharging Frequency

Charging and discharging between the battery and the smoothing
capacitor period should be optimized to ensure enough
performance. First of all, charging and discharging period was
discussed by measuring battery impedance and battery current to
estimate heat generation.
Figure 2. Control Method while Charging from Battery to Smoothing Capacitor

Experimental System Configuration

Experimental system is shown in Figure 6. The positive terminal of
the battery was connected to the U-phase of the motor via a fuse
(325A) for safety, and IGBTs of V-phase and W-phase were
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controlled by commercially available controller to repeat charging Additionally, cell impedance was measured at −20 degrees C and
and discharging between the battery and the smoothing capacitor. 25 degrees C, and then heat generation in the battery from 40Hz to
Figure 7 shows test bench for battery heating. The battery was located 1kHz was calculated. As a result, the most effective charging and
in a chamber which could control air temperature from −40 degrees C discharging frequency was determined.
to 100 degrees C. And also, the battery was covered with Styrofoam
to prevent the battery from air flow which could remove the heat Table 2. Test Conditions for Charging and Discharging Frequency Determination
from the surface of the battery. Conventional motor and inverter for
hybrid electric vehicle were chosen as shown in Figure 7.
Thermocouple (T-type) to monitor battery cell temperature (TB) was
put on the side surface of the cell which was located in the center of
the battery pack. Voltage meters for the battery voltage (VB) and the
smoothing capacitor voltage (VC) and current sensor to record the
battery current (AB) were installed in this test bench. The battery cell
specifications are shown in Table 1. We made a battery pack which
had seven cells (Capacity: 9.0Ah, Internal resistance (1second):
1.5mΩ) in series.
Result
Measurement values of the impedance at −20 degrees C and
25 degrees C are shown in Figure 8. Impedance at −20 degrees C at
10Hz or less was much higher than impedance at 25 degrees C. That
is why battery current cannot flow at extremely low temperature
because of big cell voltage drop which can immediately reach the
minimum voltage of the cell (i.e. 2.5V (SOC=0%)). And also,
impedance varied depending on SOC. Impedance at SOC60% was
exactly similar to the impedance at SOC80% but when SOC dropped
down to 40%, the impedance increased compared with SOC60% and
SOC80%. However the impedance decreased at from 50Hz to 1kHz
even at −20 degrees C. Therefore a big electric current can be applied
in this range.

Figure 6. Experimental System Configuration for Battery Heating

Figure 7. Test Bench for Battery Heating

Table 1. Battery Cell Specifications

Figure 8. Cell Impedance

Battery current, battery voltage, capacitor voltage and control signal

(V+: Upper side of V-phase) at a temperature of −20 degree C, at a
charging and discharging frequency of 50Hz and at a SOC of 80% are
shown in Figure 9. Capacitor voltage was always higher than battery
voltage because the capacitor was charged by boosted battery voltage.
On the other hand battery voltage gradually decreased during
charging as shown in Figure 9 and the battery voltage was close to
minimum voltage of the battery (i.e. 17.5V, SOC=0%) when
Experimental Condition discharging started. Battery voltage should be kept over minimum
Experimental conditions are shown in Table 2. Ambient air voltage for safety. That is why the minimum voltage during charging
temperature in chamber and initial battery temperature were set at becomes one criteria to determine charging and discharging
−20 degrees C. State of charge (SOC) was 80% which indicated frequency. Peak to peak battery current was 274A and root mean
approximately full charge, 60% and 40%. Carrier frequency was square value was 86Arms. Such a big current can flow even at
fixed at 10kHz (Duty ratio: 90%) which is the ordinary operating −20 degrees C because of low impedance at 50Hz. Figure 10 shows
frequency in the inverter. Battery voltage, smoothing capacitor battery current, battery voltage, capacitor voltage and control signal
voltage and battery current were measured at times when charging at −20 degree C, at 1kHz and at 80%. It was difficult to see battery
and discharging frequency was changed from 40Hz to 1kHz. and capacitor voltage variation at 1kHz because charging and
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discharging period was too short. Therefore battery current at 1kHz biggest heat generation and ensured the minimum voltage during
was 36A (peak to peak) and 17Arms which was far smaller than charging and discharging over 17.5V (SOC=0%). Heat generation
battery current at 50Hz. Heat generation can be calculated by was 190W per 7cells at 50Hz. That means 2.7kW per 100cells.
Equation (1).

(1)

Figure 11. Battery Heat Generation, Battery Current (Root Mean Square) and
Minimum Voltage during Charging and Discharging Versus Charging and
Discharging Frequency at SOC80%

Figure 12 shows battery voltage, capacitor voltage, battery current

and control signal on the upper side of V-phase at a temperature of
−20 degree C, at a charging and discharging frequency of 60Hz and
Figure 9. Battery Voltage, Capacitor Voltage, Battery Current and Control at a SOC of 60%. Capacitor voltage and battery current at SOC60%
Signal on The Upper Side of V-phase at −20 Degrees C (SOC=80%, Charging were lower than at SOC80% because battery voltage decreased by
and Discharging Frequency=50Hz)
0.3V per cell. Therefore charging and discharging frequency should
be set to more than 60Hz due to low battery voltage shown in Figure
13. Heat generation at 60Hz was 145W per 7cells (2.1kW per
100cells). If the SOC dropped to 40%, capacitor voltage and battery
current were accompanied by additional decrease in compared to
SOC60% with decrease in battery voltage as shown in Figure 14.
That is why minimum voltage of the battery during charging and
discharging reached 17.5V at higher frequency than at SOC60% and
at SOC80% shown in Figure 15. As a consequence, charging and
discharging frequency at SOC40% was set to 70Hz at which heat
generation was 82W per 7cells (1.2kW per 100cells). Thus it is
necessary to modify charging and discharging frequency depending
on SOC.

Figure 10. Battery Voltage, Capacitor Voltage, Battery Current and Control
Signal on The Upper Side of V-phase at −20 Degrees C (SOC=80%, Charging
and Discharging Frequency=1kHz)

Where HB is heat generation in the battery, T is cycle length (i.e.

0.02second at 50Hz), IB is battery current, RB is battery impedance
and t is time. Criteria are combined in Figure 11 shows battery heat
generation, battery current (root mean square) and minimum voltage
during charging and discharging versus frequency. Battery current
increased at 200Hz or less and minimum voltage during charging and
discharging dropped at less than 200Hz as well. Minimum voltage at
40Hz reached 17.5V which was minimum voltage of the battery (i.e.
SOC=0%). That is why charging and discharging frequency should
be settled at over 40Hz. Heat generation trend was similar to battery Figure 12. Battery Voltage, Capacitor Voltage, Battery Current and Control
current trend because the battery impedance was not much different Signal on The Upper Side of V-phase at −20 Degrees C (SOC=60%, Charging
at each frequency and the heat generation depended on battery and Discharging Frequency=60Hz)
current (i.e. square of the current). As a result, charging and
discharging frequency was determined at 50Hz which achieved the
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Experimental Condition
Experimental conditions are shown in Table 3. Ambient air
temperature in the chamber and initial battery temperature were set
at −20 degrees C. Initial state of charge of the battery was 80%.
Carrier frequency was fixed at 10kHz (Duty ratio: 90%). Charging
and discharging frequency was settle at 50Hz which was determined
in previous section. Thermocouple for battery temperature was put
on the side of the center cell shown in Figure 7. And also battery
power output with battery heating and without battery heating at
−20 degrees C was measured by use of regeneration charge-
discharge power supply.

Figure 13. Battery Heat Generation, Battery Current (Root Mean Square) and Table 3. Test Conditions for Battery Heating Performance
Minimum Voltage during Charging and Discharging Versus Charging and
Discharging Frequency at SOC60%

Result
Battery temperature and air temperature in chamber during battery
heating are shown in Figure 16. The battery temperature started to
increase immediately after battery current flowed in the battery. It
took 5 minutes from −20 degree C to 0 degree C at which battery
power output could be delivered enough to drive an EV. Figure 17
explains comparison between battery power output after battery
heating and battery power output before battery heating. Battery
heating could improve battery power output from 2.7kW (Battery
Figure 14. Battery Voltage, Capacitor Voltage, Battery Current and Control
temperature: −20 degrees C) to 10.8kW (Battery temperature:
Signal on The Upper Side of V-phase at −20 Degrees C (SOC=40%, Charging
0 degrees C) due to internal resistance decrease. Internal
and Discharging Frequency=70Hz)
resistance at −20 degrees C is 14.7mΩ and 4.4mΩ at 0 degrees C.
That is why battery current after battery heating can flow far
bigger than before battery heating and the power output of heated
up battery become 4 times as much as frozen battery.

Figure 15. Battery Heat Generation, Battery Current (Root Mean Square) and
Minimum Voltage during Charging and Discharging Versus Charging and
Discharging Frequency at SOC40%

Battery Heating Performance

Figure 16. Battery Temperature and Air Temperature during Battery Heating
In this section, battery heating performance (i.e. battery temperature
rising and battery power output improvement) was discussed while
charging and discharging were repeated.
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Result
EV driving range and cell voltage with battery heating and without
battery heating are shown in Figure 19. The battery voltage without
battery warming reached SOC 30% as soon as the vehicle started
because of high internal resistance. Therefore it is impossible to
operate by using electricity. On the other hand, Prius PHEV with
warmed battery had been driving for 27 minutes by using only battery
energy until battery SOC reached 30%. As a result, calculation value
of EV driving range increased up to 13km by battery heating.

Figure 17. Comparison between Battery Power Output after Battery Heating
and Battery Power Output before Battery Heating

Effect on EV Driving Range Improvement

This battery heating system purpose is to increase EV driving
range. Therefore the effect on EV driving range was discussed in
this section.

Simulation Method
The effect on EV driving range was simulated by using MATLAB.
Figure 19. EV Driving Range and Cell Voltage with and without Battery Heating
Simulation conditions are shown in Table 4. Ambient air temperature
was −20 degrees C and initial SOC was set at 80% same as battery
heating test. Simulated vehicle was Toyota Prius PHEV whose EV Summary/Conclusions
driving range at 25 degrees C was 22.8km which was calculated at We have developed a direct battery heating system using motor and
LA#4 shown in Figure 18. Figure 18 shows vehicle speed and battery inverter. The system can increase battery temperature at extremely
current at LA#4 mode. The battery current was calculated by use of low temperature by repeating charging and discharging between the
Prius PHEV specifications such as vehicle weight and battery voltage, battery and the smoothing capacitor for the inverter. Additional part
etc. Each cell voltage was simulated and then EV driving range was for the battery heating system is just one relay. Charging and
compared between with battery heating and without battery heating. discharging frequency were optimized from impedance and current to
Battery SOC range was settled from 30% to 80% in this simulation. improve heat generation. As a consequence, the battery is heated up
This implies that vehicle stops driving when SOC gets to 30%. from −20 degrees C to 0 degrees C in 5 minutes and EV driving
range can be extended by 13km (Toyota Prius PHEV, LA#4)
Table 4. Simulation Conditions compared to without battery heating. Furthermore, this system is
capable of heating up transmission oil and coolant for power
electronics components from −20 degrees C because the motor coils
are warmed as well by high current. Thus energy consumption to
warm the oil and the coolant after vehicle start-up will be saved by
battery heating.

Nevertheless, a magnetic noise is generated from the motor during

battery warming. In particular, A-weighted sound pressure level at
10kHz which is switching frequency in the inverter rises from 16dB
to 34dB as shown in Figure 20, Figure 21 and Figure 22. Therefore,
the magnetic noise should be evaluated in every vehicle and then if
the noise level is unacceptable, countermeasures against it need to be
considered. For example, the switching frequency is modified from
10kHz to inaudible frequency or variable frequency by which the
specific sound pressure can be distributed because the battery heating
method is not necessary constantly controlled at 10kHz. In
conclusion, our developed battery heating system achieved EV
driving range increase in a freezing weather with one relay only. This
system can be installed into all HEVs, PHEVs and EVs.
Figure 18. Vehicle Speed and Battery current at LA#4
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5. Cosley, M. and Garcia, M., “Battery Thermal Management

System,” Telecommunications Energy Conference, 2004.
INTELEC 2004. 26th Annual International (2004) 38-45, 2004,
doi:10.1109/INTLEC.2004.1401442
6. Stuart, T. and Hande, A., “HEV battery heating using AC
Figure 20. Test System Diagram currents,” Journal of Power Sources 129 (2004) 368-378, 2004
7. Ji, Y. and Wang, Y., “Heating strategies for Li-ion batteries
operated from subzero temperatures,” Electrochimica Acta 107
(2013) 664-674, 2013

Contact Information
Hiroyasu Baba
Project Assistant Manager - Battery Thermal Management / Battery
Energy Management
Nippon Soken, Inc.
[email protected]

Koji Kawasaki
Figure 21. Microphone Position General Manager - Hybrid Electric Vehicle System / Robotics
Nippon Soken, Inc.
[email protected]

Hideomi Kawachi
Project Director - Electric Vehicle System
Denso Corporation
[email protected]

Definitions/Abbreviations
HEV - Hybrid Electric Vehicle
PHEV - Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Figure 22. A-weighted Sound Pressure Level Comparison between EV - Electric Vehicle
Background Noise and Battery Heating Noise IGBT - Insulated-gate bipolar transistor
HVAC - Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
References
PCM - Phase Change Material
1. Rao, Z. and Wang, S., “A review of power battery thermal
energy management,” Renewable and Sustainalble Energy PCS - Phase Change Slurry
Reviews 15 (2011) 4554-4571, 2011 DC - Direct Current
2. Steffke, K., Spigno, C., and Bezzina, C., “Li-ion Air-Cooled AC - Alternating Current
Battery System Interactions With the Vehicle HVAC System,” SAE
SMR - System Main Relay
Technical Paper 2013-01-0242, 2013, doi:10.4271/2013-01-0242.
3. Javani, N., Dincer, I., Naterer, G.F. and Yilbas, B.S., “Heat SOC - State of Charge
transfer and thermal management with PCMs in a Li-ion battery HB (W) - Heat Generation in Battery
cell for electric vehicles,” International Journal of Heat and T (second) - Cycle Length
Mass Transfer 72 (2014) 690-703, 2014
IB (A) - Battery Current
4. Zhang, X., Kong, X., Li, G. and Li, J., “Thermodynamic
assessment of active cooling/heating methods for lithium-ion RB (Ω) - Battery Impedance
batteries of electric vehicles in extreme conditions,” Energy 64 t (second) - Time
(2014) 1092-1101, 2014

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