As the world transitions to clean energy, electrified vehicles have been proposed to decarbonize the transport sector and are being developed and produced as an alternative to conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. To this end, the lubrication, cooling and thermal management requirements of electric vehicles vary from those with conventional powertrains and drivetrains through the introduction of new hardware components, such as the battery or fuel cell, electric motor, inverter and other electronics, or modification of existing components such as gears as well as greatly increased operating speeds. These changes require optimization of lubricants to serve the new demands and environments.
Lubrication and cooling specifications of automotive components (e.g. engine oils, axle fluids) are normally developed to meet various customer or regulatory requirements. To this end, fluids, lubricants and greases specific to electrified vehicles possess additional or different characteristics and require different test methods to qualify them for use. The goal of this collection is to address the hardware differences in electric vehicles with respect to lubrication and thermal management. Some of these additional requirements include copper compatibility, material compatibility, thermal and electrical properties, safety under abuse conditions, high speed and extended temperature range operation, energy efficiency, and wear performance.
• New requirements, challenges, concerns for fluids and greases for electric vehicles;
• New test methods, test rigs to qualify fluids and greases for electric vehicles - Transmission, gear, and bearing lubrication issues;
• Thermal management and cooling of batteries, e-motors and power electronics;
• Battery thermal management requirements for ultra-fast charging;
• Battery safety and abuse testing;
• Compatibility and wear and durability testing;
• Friction (e.g. clutch, limited slip);
• Base oils and (lubricant) additives for e-mobility;
• Modelling to optimize fluid and hardware;
• Trends in hardware and materials.
Dairene Uy and Volker Null are employed by Shell Global Solutions and are involved in the development of lubricants for electric vehicles. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
As the world transitions to clean energy, electrified vehicles have been proposed to decarbonize the transport sector and are being developed and produced as an alternative to conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. To this end, the lubrication, cooling and thermal management requirements of electric vehicles vary from those with conventional powertrains and drivetrains through the introduction of new hardware components, such as the battery or fuel cell, electric motor, inverter and other electronics, or modification of existing components such as gears as well as greatly increased operating speeds. These changes require optimization of lubricants to serve the new demands and environments.
Lubrication and cooling specifications of automotive components (e.g. engine oils, axle fluids) are normally developed to meet various customer or regulatory requirements. To this end, fluids, lubricants and greases specific to electrified vehicles possess additional or different characteristics and require different test methods to qualify them for use. The goal of this collection is to address the hardware differences in electric vehicles with respect to lubrication and thermal management. Some of these additional requirements include copper compatibility, material compatibility, thermal and electrical properties, safety under abuse conditions, high speed and extended temperature range operation, energy efficiency, and wear performance.
• New requirements, challenges, concerns for fluids and greases for electric vehicles;
• New test methods, test rigs to qualify fluids and greases for electric vehicles - Transmission, gear, and bearing lubrication issues;
• Thermal management and cooling of batteries, e-motors and power electronics;
• Battery thermal management requirements for ultra-fast charging;
• Battery safety and abuse testing;
• Compatibility and wear and durability testing;
• Friction (e.g. clutch, limited slip);
• Base oils and (lubricant) additives for e-mobility;
• Modelling to optimize fluid and hardware;
• Trends in hardware and materials.
Dairene Uy and Volker Null are employed by Shell Global Solutions and are involved in the development of lubricants for electric vehicles. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.