Journal of ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, Vol. 38, No.

7, 2009 Special Issue Paper

DOI: 10.1007/s11664-009-0680-z

2009 TMS

Automotive Applications of Thermoelectric Materials

JIHUI YANG1,3 and FRANCIS R. STABLER2

1.—Materials and Processes Lab, GM R&D Center, Warren, MI 48090, USA. 2.—Future Tech,
LLC, 2096 Cameo Drive, Troy, MI 48098-2409, USA. 3.—e-mail: jihui.yang@gm.com

This report reviews several existing and potential automotive applications of

thermoelectric technology. Material and device issues related to automotive
applications are discussed. Challenges for automotive thermoelectric appli-
cations are highlighted.

Key words: Thermoelectric materials, automotive waste heat recovery,

thermoelectric applications

INTRODUCTION automotive use. These units can be set to cool or heat

Automotive applications for thermoelectric mate-
rials are growing in importance, driven by the
customerÕs desire for high efficiency and for more
features. Most thermoelectric applications can be
divided into one of two segments. One segment is
based on the Peltier effect and is focused on various
applications of heating or cooling. The other seg-
ment is based on the Seebeck effect and is focused
on power generation, primarily from waste heat.
The heating and cooling applications will be
addressed first because some of these applications
are already in production.
PELTIER EFFECT APPLICATIONS:
HEATING AND COOLING
While vehicle customers need and expect high
efficiency from vehicles, there is a competing demand
for additional features for comfort and convenience.
Thermoelectric materials can offer vehicle owners
several unique features by providing heating and
cooling for various items on the vehicle. Seats with
thermoelectric heating and cooling are available
today and have been in production for almost a dec-
ade in many luxury vehicles. Cup holders that keep
beverages hot or cold are available on a few models.
Small thermoelectric refrigerators or wine coolers
are available as features for limousines and recrea-
tional vehicles. Numerous after-market manufac-
turers are producing warmer–cooler units for
(Received July 30, 2008; accepted January 15, 2009;
published online February 13, 2009)
food and drink using the 12-V power from a vehicle.
Many of these warmer–cooler units are portable and
can be used in any location where electric power is
available. All of these thermoelectric systems offer
the benefit of being small, relatively lightweight, and
silent in operation. These unique features make
thermoelectric technology very attractive even
though the efficiency is low.
The most promising area for application of the
Peltier effect has been discussed in numerous pat-
ents, papers, and presentations, but has not reached
production yet. This delay in production application
has been due in part to the relatively low efficiency
of thermoelectric materials (low ZT and low coeffi-
cient of performance). The impact on the vehicle
design has been an additional part of the delay.
Thermoelectric materials have the potential to
revolutionize automotive heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. Improved ther-
moelectric materials can enable the production of
HVAC systems with several very desirable and
unique features:

No Greenhouse gases required for refrigerant

Silent operation

Faster operation, especially faster delivery of
warm air on cold starts

Potentially lighter weight systems

Potential of more energy-efficient cooling

Ability to heat or cool the passenger compartment
without engine operation (hybrids, engine off
when vehicle stops, remote HVAC activation
without engine start, etc.)

Increased reliability and durability due to no or
few moving parts

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HVAC systems based on thermoelectric modules
can contribute to the acceptance of hybrid, electric,
or fuel cell vehicles where quiet operation without
the need for mechanical input is a needed capabil-
ity. There are at least two distinctly different
approaches for thermoelectric HVAC systems: direct
replacement or a new distributed system.
Direct Replacement of Existing HVAC
Systems
The direct replacement approach would retain the
single-point HVAC system where one unit in the
vehicle firewall distributes heated or cooled air
through a vent system in the instrument panel. The
thermoelectric modules would provide the heating
or cooling of the air, eliminating the need for the
current heater core, compressor-evaporator system,
pipes, and AC radiator, and much of the engine
compartment complexity. There is the possibility
that engine coolant will be needed to provide or
remove heat from the thermoelectric modules. This
simplifies the packaging of the HVAC components
and has limited impact on the passenger cabin.
Figure 1 provides one possible embodiment of a
thermoelectric HVAC system. This approach may
save some mass and operating power (depending on
the performance of the available materials). As
vehicles become more efficient, both gasoline and
diesel engines take much longer to warm up and
provide adequate coolant temperature to warm the
passenger compartment. Thermoelectric systems
can offer a solution to this problem by heating air to
the passenger compartment within seconds of acti-
vation. While this design would be relatively easy to
package and has several benefits, it does not take
full advantage of features offered by thermoelectric
systems.
Distributed HVAC System
A completely new vehicle cabin design to incor-
porate a distributed HVAC system would be a much
more difficult project; however, it has the potential
to offer much more for the customer. It would offer
all of the features mentioned above plus several
unique ones. A distributed design has the potential
to offer the following:
Major Thermoelectric HVAC Functions
Fluid In Fluid Out
Source Side
Heat Exchanger
Electric
Thermoelectric
Modules Power & Vehicle Interface
Air In Cabin Side Air Out
Cabin Air
Heat Exchanger
Current flow to TE modules in one direction for
heating cabin air and reversed for cooling
Fig. 1. Major TE functions of a direct-replacement HVAC system.
Vehicle Coolant – Hot for
heating, cold for cooling –
Added pumps / flow
controls
Power Source
Yang and Stabler

Faster cooling and heating than either current
HVAC systems or a new direct replacement
system

Lower power requirements and ultimately
increased fuel efficiency

Less wasted energy by heating or cooling only the
passengers, not empty seats

Lighter weight system and better packaging,
especially less impact on the instrument panel

Ability to provide individual temperature control
for each passenger or sector of the vehicle (par-
tially available today with conventional systems)

Better temperature control, especially for rear-
seat passengers
To design a successful distributed HVAC system,
much research is needed on how people perceive a
comfortable temperature for their environment. Air
temperature, air movement, surface temperatures,
and other subtle factors all play a part in achieving
the desired result for all passengers. Thermoelectric
modules would offer a designer the ability to cool or
heat surfaces the passengers touch in addition to
controlling air temperature. This is the downside of
the distributed system. Much of the passenger cabin
would have to be redesigned and many passive
components such as seats, arm rests, steering
wheel, and possibly the head liner would become
active parts of the HVAC system. The heated and
cooled seats offered in some current cars are an
initial example of this capability. Even control of air
temperature could change since it would be possible
to have many small sources of air flow rather than a
central source. Using a system similar to or shared
with the airbag system, the distributed HVAC sys-
tem could activate only the portions needed to pro-
vide a comfortable environment for the passengers,
not empty areas.
The success of these features depends on the
efficiency of the thermoelectric modules used for
heating and cooling and even more importantly on
the availability of economical modules. It is desir-
able to have high-performance materials because
they allow higher efficiency (less electric power
demand from the vehicle) and smaller systems
(lighter, easier to package systems). Specific design
of thermoelectric components for a distributed sys-
tem will require significant interior component
redesign, many that are vehicle specific, to have an
efficient system. The general design will be small
units similar to that shown in Fig. 1 with air being
the source in some cases and some vehicle surfaces
being cooled or heated instead of cabin air.
There are other applications of the Peltier effect
on automobiles that would not be features directly
observed by the customer, but important to vehicle
performance and durability. These involve control-
ling the temperature of certain vehicle systems to
keep them within the desired temperature range for
proper, reliable operation. Some of the applications
could include the following: