{
  "node": {
    "id": "term:radiator",
    "type": "Term",
    "label": "Radiator",
    "properties": {
      "id": "radiator",
      "name": "Radiator",
      "section": "topic-thermal",
      "definition": "A finned coolant-to-air heat exchanger, usually behind the vehicle’s front grille, through which a fan draws air. It can only cool the coolant to a few degrees above the outside air, so it handles the battery in mild weather and the chiller takes over when it is hot or the charging load is high.",
      "related": [
        "heat-exchanger",
        "chiller",
        "coolant",
        "heat-sink",
        "thermal-management"
      ],
      "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/radiator/",
      "mentions": []
    }
  },
  "edges": [
    {
      "id": "edge:4732",
      "source": "term:radiator",
      "target": "topic:topic-thermal",
      "type": "belongsTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:4733",
      "source": "term:radiator",
      "target": "term:heat-exchanger",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:4734",
      "source": "term:radiator",
      "target": "term:chiller",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:4735",
      "source": "term:radiator",
      "target": "term:coolant",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:4736",
      "source": "term:radiator",
      "target": "term:heat-sink",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:4737",
      "source": "term:radiator",
      "target": "term:thermal-management",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:4738",
      "source": "term:radiator",
      "target": "reference:openstax-heat",
      "type": "cites",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "wiki-references.json",
        "scope": "direct technical reference"
      }
    }
  ],
  "neighbors": [
    {
      "id": "topic:topic-thermal",
      "type": "Topic",
      "label": "Thermal management and heat transfer",
      "properties": {
        "id": "topic-thermal",
        "name": "Thermal management and heat transfer",
        "lede": "How heat is made, moved and removed in cells and packs, and the hardware that keeps a battery at the right temperature.",
        "context": "Select spatial detail for the question.",
        "example": "Equal total heat in different layouts can produce different gradients. Average temperature can miss a hot spot.",
        "lesson_url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/fundamentals/battery-aging/",
        "lesson_label": "Open temperature and aging"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:heat-exchanger",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Heat exchanger",
      "properties": {
        "id": "heat-exchanger",
        "name": "Heat exchanger",
        "section": "topic-thermal",
        "definition": "A device that moves heat between two fluids without mixing them, through thin metal walls with as much area as possible. In battery systems the main examples are the chiller, between refrigerant and coolant, and the radiator, between coolant and air; a cooling plate does the same job between cells and coolant.",
        "related": [
          "chiller",
          "radiator",
          "coolant",
          "cooling-plate",
          "refrigerant-loop"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/heat-exchanger/",
        "mentions": [
          "mixing"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:chiller",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Chiller",
      "properties": {
        "id": "chiller",
        "name": "Chiller",
        "section": "topic-thermal",
        "definition": "A heat exchanger in which evaporating refrigerant from the air-conditioning circuit cools the battery coolant below ambient temperature. A radiator can only bring coolant close to outside air temperature; the chiller is what lets a pack fast-charge on a 35 °C day. Stationary storage containers use packaged chiller units for the same job.",
        "related": [
          "refrigerant-loop",
          "coolant",
          "radiator",
          "heat-exchanger",
          "fast-charging",
          "thermal-management"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/chiller/",
        "mentions": [
          "stationary-storage"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:coolant",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Coolant",
      "properties": {
        "id": "coolant",
        "name": "Coolant",
        "aka": [
          "water–glycol",
          "glycol coolant",
          "ethylene glycol"
        ],
        "section": "topic-thermal",
        "definition": "The liquid pumped through cooling plates and heat exchangers, usually a roughly 50:50 mix of water and ethylene glycol that stays liquid to about −35 °C. It carries heat better than air or dielectric oils, but it conducts electricity, so a leak inside a pack threatens insulation resistance and can short live parts.",
        "related": [
          "cooling-plate",
          "chiller",
          "radiator",
          "heat-exchanger",
          "immersion-cooling",
          "insulation-resistance"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/coolant/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:heat-sink",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Heat sink",
      "properties": {
        "id": "heat-sink",
        "name": "Heat sink",
        "aka": [
          "fins",
          "cooling fins",
          "finned heat sink"
        ],
        "section": "topic-thermal",
        "definition": "A metal body, often extruded aluminium with fins, that draws heat from a component and enlarges the surface it can lose that heat from. Fins multiply the area for convection to air; in batteries heat sinks serve air-cooled cell blocks and, above all, the balancing resistors and power switches of the BMS and DC/DC converter.",
        "related": [
          "heat-transfer-coefficient",
          "radiator",
          "passive-thermal-management",
          "cell-balancing",
          "heat-pipe"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/heat-sink/",
        "mentions": [
          "bms",
          "dc-dc-converter",
          "heat-transfer-modes"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:thermal-management",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Thermal management",
      "properties": {
        "id": "thermal-management",
        "name": "Thermal management",
        "abbr": "TMS",
        "aka": [
          "battery thermal management system",
          "BTMS"
        ],
        "section": "topic-thermal",
        "definition": "Keeping cells in their comfortable range, roughly 15–35 °C, and within a few degrees of each other: liquid cooling plates, refrigerant plates or immersion for heat removal, and heaters or waste heat for warming before fast charging in the cold.",
        "related": [
          "cooling-plate",
          "thermal-interface-material",
          "operating-temperature",
          "heat-generation",
          "preconditioning",
          "temperature-sensor"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/thermal-management/",
        "mentions": [
          "fast-charging"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "reference:openstax-heat",
      "type": "Reference",
      "label": "University Physics Volume 2, §1.6: Mechanisms of Heat Transfer",
      "properties": {
        "title": "University Physics Volume 2, §1.6: Mechanisms of Heat Transfer",
        "publisher": "OpenStax, Rice University",
        "url": "https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-2/pages/1-6-mechanisms-of-heat-transfer",
        "type": "Textbook section",
        "scope": "Conduction, convection, radiation and thermal resistance.",
        "accessed": "2026-10-27"
      }
    }
  ]
}