Comparative Thermal Management of Lithium-Ion Battery Packs for Electric Vehicles: A Computational Analysis of Air-Cooled and Liquid-Cooled Architectures

Abstract

Effective thermal management remains a critical engineering challenge in electric vehicle battery systems because lithium-ion cells are highly sensitive to temperature gradients, thermal runaway risk, capacity degradation, and uneven electrochemical aging. This article comparatively evaluates two battery thermal management architectures: forced-air cooling and indirect liquid cooling. Using a computational systems engineering approach grounded in peer-reviewed experimental data, electrothermal battery modeling, and finite-volume heat transfer simulation, the study analyzes how cooling architecture affects pack temperature uniformity, thermal stability, energy efficiency, safety margins, and long-term operational reliability. The comparative analysis demonstrates that forced-air cooling offers lower structural complexity, reduced system cost, and easier maintenance but exhibits limited heat removal capacity under high C-rate operation and dense pack configurations. Indirect liquid cooling provides superior thermal uniformity, faster heat dissipation, and stronger safety performance, but introduces additional design complexity, pumping power demand, leakage risk, and manufacturing cost. The findings suggest that thermal management effectiveness depends not only on coolant type but also on flow-path design, cell spacing, module geometry, control strategy, and integration with battery management systems. This article contributes to sustainable transportation engineering by linking heat transfer mechanisms, electrochemical degradation behavior, computational simulation, and electric mobility system design into a unified analytical framework.