edatoakrun wrote:You also have to consider the high maintenance and repair costs battery cooling will require you to pay in the future.
The battery cooling uses the same AC system (compressor/condensor/freon loop) as the cabin cooling system. So it's misleading to claim that the battery cooling has its own separate AC system and therefore is higher maintenance and more repair cost. After all, the LEAF requires an AC system for cabin cooling, too, doesn't it? Same AC system is used for cooling the battery, so how can it be higher maintenance and higher repair cost?
If somebody argues that even though it shares the same AC system with the cabin cooling, the battery cooling requires its own liquid coolant loop because cabin cooling is through air exchange in the evaporator while battery cooling is through liquid coolant exchange in its own evaporator/chiller, then true. But consider the additional advantage of the battery coolant loop that a non-TMS system doesn't have and is not mentioned here: BATTERY HEATING. This is THE OTHER HALF of the operation that's not mentioned, and is a very important part of winter operation where the battery can ALSO be kept warm to be efficient and not lose significant range.
Another important aspect that's not mentioned about TMS here is that even when no cooling or heating is required, circulating the liquid coolant throughout the battery is also helpful to maintain battery cells' temperature stability, ensuring that there are no hot spots in certain cells in certain areas of the battery and not others.
So to summarize:
1. No extra high maintenance and high repair cost for battery cooling when it comes to the AC system because it uses the same AC system for cabin cooling.
2. The extra hardware for the battery liquid loop and pump is helpful not just for cooling only, but also helpful for heating and for maintaining battery cell temperature stability. So this extra hardware is justified to have.