Numerical modelling of a finless heat exchanger layout for electric vehicle application

Computational Fluid Dynamics has emerged as one of the major investigative tools for aerodynamics and thermal analyses of today’s road vehicle design processes. This work presents the design of a new heat exchanger layout that could support the transition from thermal to electrical propulsion of an existing motor vehicle. A procedure is established to develop and assess a heat exchanger prototype. The aerodynamic performance of an electric vehicle equipped with the above-mentioned heat exchanger is assessed numerically, and results compared with its thermal counterpart. The comparison between both layouts shows a 5% reduction of the vehicle’s drag and a net reduction of the overall weight with the newly designed system, introducing the proposal for a new form of heat exchanger packaging.