In a bid to address the growing thermal management challenge in an electric vehicle, Hella’s innovative 7-way valve combines all the necessary functions for efficient heat management. This ensures ideal temperature of battery, components and vehicle interior at any time of the year and enables efficient heat recovery.
"One key to successful electrification is efficient thermal management. With the Coolant Control Hub, we are therefore now launching an innovative subsystem that revolutionises thermal management in the vehicle," explains Bjorn Twiehaus, Managing Director responsible for Hella's global electronics business.
Hella's Coolant Control Hub (CCH) is based on a modular principle and, in its highest level of integration, connects three circuits with each other in the vehicle: the battery, interior electronics as well as the power electronics and electric motor circuit. "What they all have in common is a significant reduction in components, which means that logistics and overall costs for installing the vehicle can be reduced - a major advantage for manufacturers," says Twiehaus.
In addition, the centralisation leads to an ideal distribution of thermal energy in the vehicle. The precise order of magnitude after optimization depends on the respective architecture and layout of the customer. "We configure a custom product for our customers according to the platform architecture of the vehicle," Twiehaus points out. For example, CCH combines multi-way valves, actuators, distribution systems, electronic circulation pumps, expansion tanks and heat exchangers as well as sensors in one product.
Hella has implemented an advanced valve concept based on its high level of system expertise in the areas of fluidics, engines, electronics and software, as well as its interfaces with the cooling- and refrigerant system and its many years of know-how in high-performance electric pumps and actuators. The innovative 7-way valve, for which a patent is already pending, makes it possible to achieve ideal heat recovery and thus increase efficiency.