Extendable conductor for thermal management

A vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of ground-engaging members;
• and
• an extendable conductor assembly supported by the plurality of ground-engaging members, the extendable conductor assembly comprising:
• an extendable conductor thermally coupled to a heat-managed component of the vehicle;
• an extension/retraction mechanism configured to selectively extend or retract a length of the extendable conductor from a housing in relation to a thermal target that is external to the housing to control a rate of radiative heat transfer between the extendable conductor and the thermal target proportional to surface area of the length of the extendable conductor that is exposed to the thermal target, thereby thermally coupling the heat-managed component and the thermal target proportional to the length of the extendable conductor that is exposed to the thermal management target by the extension/retraction mechanism;
• and
• a controller electrically coupled to the extension/retraction mechanism, comprising:
• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the controller to perform a set of operations, comprising:
• evaluating a thermal rate of transfer associated with the extendable conductor;
• based on determining to increase the thermal rate of transfer, controlling the extension/retraction mechanism to extend the extendable conductor, thereby increasing the surface area of the conductor that is exposed to the thermal target;
• and
• based on determining to decrease the thermal rate of transfer, controlling the extension/retraction mechanism to retract the extendable conductor, thereby decreasing the surface area of the conductor that is exposed to the thermal target.