Investigation of a Hybrid-Electric Scooter and Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of its Battery Pack Cooling System

The need for a clean environment leads to the incorporation of electric vehicles in the public fleet. In the present study, a conventional gasoline fuelled scooter was converted into a Hybrid-Electric Scooter (HES), and its performance study was carried out. Furthermore, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study was carried out for heat generation and cooling of the battery pack and its cells within it. The scooter can be operated in single mode on electric power or engine power as well as parallel mode on electric motor and engine power. During vehicle driving, it was observed that battery temperature increased with an increase in speed and time of travel. The battery cell surface temperature reached above 55°C. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation study for cooling both the battery pack surface and cell surface inside the battery pack at different air velocities of 15 km/h and 25 km/h has shown promising results in reducing the temperature of cell surface and pack surface about 3-4°C as compared to the isolated or battery with restricted airflow. For this air conduit design, modification is required depending on the space and requirement. The converted hybrid-electric scooter (HES) can use the existing vehicle infrastructure and fairly reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. In rural areas, the HES may be charged during the day with a solar PV system installed on the farmer’s land. The HES can also be operated with conventional fuel when the battery is discharged.