New Energy Vehicle Heat Pump Air Conditioning Technology In China

By Author: Guchen EAC
Total Articles: 19
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The development of new energy vehicles is expected to solve the environmental pollution problems caused by traditional fuel vehicles.

The biggest difference between new energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles is the power system, which in turn leads to huge changes in thermal management and air conditioning systems. The traditional foreign thermal management leaders, Denso, Valeo, Hanon, and Mahler, account for more than half of the global market and have strong technical advantages. In the current wave of vehicle electrification, the existing competitive landscape of automotive thermal management air-conditioning has shown signs of loosening, and there is a possibility of overtaking in corners by Chinese companies.

◆Heat pump air conditioners have become the future development trend in the field of new energy vehicles
The new energy vehicle thermal management system includes air conditioning system, battery thermal management, electric motor control thermal management and cooling of other equipment. The difference from traditional fuel vehicles is that the air conditioning system of new energy vehicles ...
... is driven by electric energy, and the heating scheme includes PTC and heat pump modes. The advantage of heat pump air conditioning over PTC heating is that it is more energy-efficient, and it has been rapidly promoted in the field of new energy vehicles.

◆China Local companies in the heat pump air-conditioning market accelerate their rise
The traditional foreign thermal management leaders, Denso, Valeo, Hanon, and Mahle, accounted for 55% of the global market in revenue in 2018, and have strong technical advantages. The advantage of China's domestic enterprises with core thermal management components is that they are sensitive to market demand and can adapt to the current development rhythm of new energy automobile companies at home and abroad. For new energy vehicles, the power source of the air conditioning system is changed from the original engine to the power battery, and the technical solution needs to be redesigned. Generally speaking, in the wave of automobile electrification, the existing competitive landscape of automobile thermal management air-conditioning has shown signs of loosening, and there is the possibility of Chinese companies overtaking in curves.

Investment opportunities in China's new energy vehicle heat pump air-conditioning industry.
The value of the single-vehicle air-conditioning system of new energy vehicles has greatly increased compared with traditional fuel vehicles. The value of a single vehicle is about 7000~8000 yuan (if heat pump air-conditioning is used, it is about 10000 yuan), which is about twice as high as that of traditional fuel vehicles. Among them, the value of the air-conditioning system (traditional refrigerant) of new energy vehicles is approximately RMB 3,950 per vehicle, which is significantly higher than the value of RMB 1,610 per vehicle of traditional fuel vehicles. In 2025, my country's new energy vehicle penetration rate target is 25%. Based on this calculation, the domestic sales of new energy vehicles are expected to reach 7.1 million in 2025, and the space corresponding to the thermal management system is about 50 billion yuan, of which the space for the air-conditioning system is about 28 billion yuan. With the popularization of carbon dioxide heat pump technology in the future, the space of air-conditioning system is expected to be further improved

The air conditioning system plays an important role in the thermal management system
For new energy vehicles, the thermal management system includes the air conditioning system, in addition to battery thermal management, electric motor thermal management, and cooling of other equipment.
The biggest difference between new energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles is the power system. The former converts electrical energy into mechanical energy, while the latter converts chemical energy into internal energy and then into mechanical energy.

The difference between the thermal management system of new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles is mainly reflected in the following two points:
1. The traditional fuel vehicle thermal management system is built around the engine (the engine drives the air-conditioning compressor and water pump to operate, and the cabin heating comes from engine waste heat). No engine or engine only part
Time work requires electric air-conditioning compressors and water pumps, and other methods (PTC or heat pumps) are required to heat the cabin;
2.The power battery of new energy vehicles requires fine heat dissipation and heating management. Compared with fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles have added power battery thermal management circuits (add chiller, battery cooling water plate, valves, PTC, etc.).

The air conditioner of new energy vehicles is driven by electric energy, and the heating scheme is PTC and heat pump mode
The air-conditioning system of new energy vehicles is driven by electric energy. For new energy vehicles (especially pure electric vehicles), there is no engine as the power source of the air-conditioning compressor, and there is no engine waste heat that can be used to achieve heating and defrosting effects. Generally speaking, the cold source, heat source and other energy sources of the air-conditioning system of new energy vehicles come from batteries.

The current heating scheme of the air-conditioning system includes PTC and heat pump modes. In the current mainstream air conditioning systems for new energy vehicles on the market,
(1) Cooling: Electric compression refrigeration is basically adopted. For example, the refrigeration of the Fox new energy vehicle air conditioning system adopts the refrigeration cycle of "compressor-condenser-expansion valve-evaporator";
(2) Heating: mainly includes PTC (liquid/air) and heat pump systems. For example, Fox new energy vehicles adopt PTC heating when the temperature is low or when the vehicle starts. When the motor temperature reaches a certain value, the motor waste heat plan is adopted. Tesla Model-X heating mode adopts air PTC scheme, which is more efficient than liquid PTC scheme.
PTC: Positive Temperature Coefficient, generally refers to semiconductor materials with a large positive temperature coefficient.
Heat pump: is a device that transfers heat energy from a low-level heat source to a high-level heat source.

I am working at Guchen Industry. We are one leading exporting company special in bus parts for many years, like electric bus air conditioning, bus AC parts, compressor, minibus air conditioner. Guchen Industry is one of the first Chinese companies to produce air conditioning systems for commercial vehicles. We export the Rooftop bus air condtioner to All over the world. We offer the bus a/c parts like Fan, Blower, clutch, filter Dryer, Danfoss expansion Valve ect.

I am Isabella S Johnna, Working at Guchen EAC. We are the top manufacturer of HVAC systems, including bus air conditioning, 12V air conditioner for van, electric AC compressor etc.Guchen EAC manufactures and exports a wide range of electric AC compressor, both high voltage (DC320V, DC350V, DC380V) and low volt compressors (DC12V, DC72V).