Vehicle thermal management system and method for controlling the same

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle thermal management system, including: an HVAC subsystem thermally connected to a passenger compartment; and a powertrain cooling subsystem thermally connected to a powertrain component. The HVAC subsystem includes a compressor, an interior condenser disposed on the downstream side of the compressor, a heating-side expansion valve disposed on the downstream side of the interior condenser, an exterior heat exchanger disposed on the downstream side of the heating-side expansion valve, a first distribution conduit extending from a downstream point of the heating-side expansion valve to an upstream point of the compressor, a water-cooled heat exchanger disposed on the first distribution conduit, a first control valve disposed on the upstream side of the exterior heat exchanger, a second control valve disposed on the first distribution conduit, a third control valve disposed on the downstream side of the exterior heat exchanger, a cooling-side expansion valve disposed on the downstream side of the third control valve, and an evaporator disposed on the downstream side of the cooling-side expansion valve. The water-cooled heat exchanger transfers heat between the first distribution conduit and the powertrain cooling subsystem.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.