Roadway heat absorption system for battery heating

An electric vehicle located on a ground surface, comprising:

• a bottom surface;
• a battery configured to power a motor of the electric vehicle, the battery located within the electric vehicle and adjacent to the bottom surface;
• a vent located below the battery and, within an opening in the bottom surface, the vent configured to be in an open state or a closed state;
• a screen located between the battery and the ground surface and configured to block objects or debris when the vent is in the open state, the screen configured to be in a deployed state or a retracted state based on a detected vehicle speed;
• and
• an electronic control unit (ECU) coupled to the vent and the battery and configured to determine whether a temperature of the battery is below a threshold temperature, and cause the vent to move from the closed state to the open state when the temperature of the battery is below the threshold temperature to allow the battery to directly absorb outside heat.

A method for warming a battery of an electric vehicle, the method comprising:

• detecting, by a battery temperature sensor connected to the battery, a temperature of the battery;
• detecting. by an outside temperature sensor, a temperature of a ground surface outside of the vehicle;
• determining, by an electronic control unit (ECU), an effective outside temperature based on:
• the temperature of the ground surface, and
• wind speed below the vehicle detected by a wind sensor or a current amount of sunlight detected by a solar loading sensor:
• determining, by the ECU, whether the temperature of the battery is below a threshold temperature and whether the effective outside temperature exceeds the temperature of the battery;
• and
• moving, by a vent coupled to the ECU, from a closed state to an open state when the temperature of the battery is below the threshold temperature and when the effective outside temperature exceeds the temperature of the battery, the vent allowing the battery to directly absorb heat radiated from the ground surface when the vent is in the open state.