Thermal management of power lithium-ion batteries under extreme fast charging conditions: From heat generation mechanisms to a coordinated control framework

Extreme fast charging (XFC) can substantially reduce recharging times for battery electric vehicles, but high-rate charging generates large, spatially nonuniform heat loads within a short period. The resulting temperature gradients, localized hotspots, and cold regions affect polarization, ion transport, and lithium plating. Consequently, maximum and average temperatures alone cannot adequately characterize the electrochemical safety and aging state of the battery. This review uses a problem-driven semi-systematic approach to examine heat generation and transfer, temperature nonuniformity and its consequences, and pathways for regulating the thermal field. Under XFC conditions, the magnitudes and effects of irreversible heat generation and reversible entropic heat are jointly governed by several interacting factors. These include charging rate, state of charge, temperature nonuniformity, aging state, and cell chemistry. Heat-transfer pathways and cooling boundary conditions determine temperature differences between the cell interior and exterior, gradient direction, and hotspot duration. Their consequences are further constrained by cell configuration, system scale, and operating conditions. On this basis, the review restructures thermal management into three stages: thermal-state shaping before charging, temperature-field regulation during charging, and thermal recovery after charging. It also proposes a coordinated control framework coupling charging protocols with the battery thermal management system, together with a unified evaluation framework. Together, these frameworks are intended to guide thermal management pathway optimization, control strategy development, and system-level solution design for power lithium-ion batteries under XFC conditions.