ETAutoSTVC: Mahindra Electric CTO on role of thermal management in developing affordable EVs for India

Martin Murray was speaking at ETAuto Virtual Simulation and Testing Congress where he talked about the role of simulation and testing in smarter designing of EVs.

We're in the process of launching the most affordable electric four-wheeler in India using thermal management with liquid cooling, claimed Martin Murray, CTO, Mahindra Electric at the first-ever virtual Simulation and Testing Congress conducted by ETAuto.

In a fireside chat, the company's CTO underlined, "A lot of the cost in electric propulsion system is in the thermal management area. So the better we understand the thermal behaviour and the application of new technology, the quicker we can reduce the cost of the thermal side and give the customer better value and better performance."

The company, in the past, had designed air coolants looking at air-flow to enhance the thermal performance of the battery packs which translate into its increased life-cycle and utility.

Murray expects a multi-physics model, that can rapidly predict the life-cycle behaviour, different battery technologies, to be a breakthrough for the EV industry to accelerate towards low cost, high-performance inner storage to meet the customer needs.

The multi-physics model also plays an instrumental role in tackling the challenges faced while using virtual simulation and testing of EV designs. Murray explained, " A multi-physics approach is needed for EV design ecosystem because of its complexity and a wide array of parts, like magnetics, structure and drive trains."

Talking about the noise and vibration issues in electric vehicles, the Mahindra CTO said, "We have so many variable parts in the electric model design and their rippled characteristic radiate to the drivetrain and create the acoustic system. We have to be able to anticipate and then design so the natural frequencies of these acoustic systems don't offend the customer."

How simulation tools enhance EV design prospects?

Martin Murray said that the simulation and testing tools that are popular and indigenous can enable three different areas for improvement. The first area, according to him, is taking bigger steps to capitalize on better ideas and broader use of technology as the company is able to look at designs in a virtual environment first.

Secondly, it allows them to accelerate their prophecies because we don't wait to build physically to see if they work. Murray explained, "We have good confidence from virtual work that is designed and that way we accelerate the development and validation taking into consideration its digital twin."

Lastly and most importantly, the use of simulation and testing tools results in cost reduction in the development process. Underlining his point, he said, "We can use fewer physical properties to get the same level of competence by building and testing physical parts, comparing the results to our models. It allows us to move faster, take bigger steps and higher competence with fewer physical properties before we take these to market."

Mahindra electric has been rapidly localising core parts of their three-wheelers and e-rickshaws, thanks to the use of simulation technology for structural and thermal analysis.

The required skillsets are key to leveraging the maximum benefits from this technology and be successful. Murray said many of the company's tier-1 and tier-2 suppliers have the capability to use these tools.

"Those suppliers have already done manufacturing analysis so they have high confidence and producibility and quality and then we can take those parts, put these parts into physical test verifier models which helps a lot," added Murray. However, there is a lot of scope for improvement in the NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness), EMI and EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) to assess the product to really understand how those products characteristics respond to the design.