Thermal Management as a Central System Discipline of Electromobility Everything is Being Electrified—But Nothing Should Overheat

Related Vendors

Delta Electronics (Germany) GmbH

FAULHABER Drive Systems

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

Thermal management is a key technology in the mobility transition. It determines whether a vehicle reliably provides its functions under real-world conditions or fails due to thermal limits. If central control units, inverters, or sensors overheat, not only are comfort and efficiency compromised, but safety and trust in the technology may also be at risk.

Rush hour traffic in Munich on a hot July day: Traffic is crawling on the Mittlerer Ring, and the thermometer reads 34 degrees (93 degrees Fahrenheit). The driver of a fully electric vehicle is inching through the stop-and-go traffic in the heat. The air conditioning is running full blast, while the battery, recuperation unit, interior ventilation, and the central control unit for infotainment and driver assistance systems are all in use simultaneously. The navigation system processes real-time data for an alternative route, the voice assistant responds to commands, and the parking assistant scans side streets for free spaces. Suddenly, the touch display becomes sluggish, and a warning symbol appears: “System temperature critical—functions restricted.” Seconds later, the digital cockpit briefly flickers out—the vehicle automatically reduces the performance of the comfort functions.

The situation is not unusual, but it clearly demonstrates how much modern vehicle systems depend on stable temperature management. It is no longer just about the traditional cooling circuit. Cooling has become a systemic discipline—a combination of hardware, sensors, software, and real-time control. In an environment where computing power, energy flow, and driving functions interact in real time, overheating quickly becomes a bottleneck. What was once regulated merely by the engine fan is now a highly complex, interconnected system of sensors, fans, pumps, and algorithms. The challenge here is to ensure performance, safety, and comfort at all times.

Thermal Management As A System Function

The electrification of vehicles no longer occurs solely in the drivetrain. Seats, chargers, HVAC systems, assistance sensors, digital cockpits, and central control units—all are electrically powered, networked, and regulated. However, with each new function, waste heat also increases, often concentrated locally in a confined space. Cooling thus becomes a fundamental requirement for functional safety and efficiency.

The necessity of comprehensive thermal management becomes particularly clear when revisiting the example described: as a driver of an electric car, the expectations are completely different from those during the era of classic gasoline cars. A modern vehicle should provide all the familiar conveniences of mobility and much more—while being more reliable than ever before. This combination of expectations, users, and complexity makes thermal management the new high-performance discipline in the automotive sector.

New Hotspots in Vehicle Architecture

With the emergence of central vehicle computers, zonal control architectures, and software-defined vehicle functions, new thermal hotspots are being created: powerful control units are replacing many smaller ECUs, resulting in concentrated rather than distributed heat generation. Components such as inverters, charging units, or onboard network control units require precise temperature management, as do cockpit systems with continuous data processing.

At the same time, the demands on comfort functions such as seat climate control or air quality systems are increasing, which also consume energy and have thermal effects—often with limited air circulation and in tight installation spaces. All these systems must not only operate reliably but also be durable and efficient, while being as quiet and low-vibration as possible.

What Modern Cooling Systems Must Achieve

Good cooling today means more than just reducing temperature. Key factors include compact design, quiet operation, energy efficiency, modular scalability, and flexible control. Smart thermal management solutions directly integrate fans, pumps, sensors, and control units with the onboard network. They communicate via CAN, Ethernet, or FlexRay and dynamically adapt to ambient temperatures, load conditions, and vehicle architecture—even with partially redundant configurations or functions within the over-the-air update cycle.

Thermal Management As A System Competency

A provider that meets these practical requirements is Delta Electronics, a leading specialist in power electronics and thermal management. Delta offers a wide portfolio of thermal system solutions—from HVAC blowers to micro fans for cockpit systems and electric cooling pumps for high-voltage components. The solutions cover voltages from 12 to 48 V, power outputs up to 500 W, and applications in drivetrain, interior, control units, and comfort modules.

In the drivetrain, such components are used, for example, in the cooling of inverters, electric pumps, and decoupling systems. In HVAC systems, compact BLDC blower motors ensure energy-efficient and quiet operation—both in central units and supplementary modules in the rear area. Targeted cooling is also crucial in environments such as radar, camera, and lidar control systems with high computational demands, to ensure thermal stability and functional safety under real-world operating conditions.

Cockpit, cloud, and control: New requirements for thermal design

The digital cockpit is particularly sensitive. Here, the centralization of functions such as infotainment, navigation, and voice control generates highly dynamic temperature profiles. The high-performance processors used require targeted, adaptive cooling with minimal acoustic impact and high component density. What is needed are miniature fans with controllable sound characteristics that can be automatically assembled and integrated into digital control networks.

At the same time, the importance of software-supported thermal management is growing: adaptive control strategies that respond to operating data and learn from vehicle operation. Through cloud connectivity and the use of artificial intelligence, cooling strategies can be adjusted proactively, for example, for extreme conditions, fleet usage, or customized driving profiles. Thermal behavior thus becomes part of the overarching software stack within the vehicle.

Zonal Platforms: Concentrated Power, Focused Cooling

The transition to zonal control architectures reinforces this trend. In zonally organized vehicles, control is concentrated in a few high-performance nodes per vehicle area. This reduces cabling effort and simplifies updates—but locally increases thermal load. Cooling solutions here must not only be powerful and space-saving but also flexibly scalable and electronically integrable.

Increasingly, lightweight, miniaturized fan solutions are being used, which can be directly integrated into zone controllers and, if necessary, also support redundant control functions. A key factor here is high thermal efficiency with minimal space requirements—particularly in densely packed control units with multiple functions. (se)

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