Abstract: An electric vehicle including a battery including a plurality of battery cells and a plurality of thermal control panels interleaved with the plurality of battery cells to form a battery stack, each thermal control panel including walls defining at least one fluid channel. At least one retention element applies a retention pressure to the battery stack to compress the plurality of battery cells and plurality of thermal control panels of the battery stack, the walls of the thermal panels being under compression by a stack pressure including at least the retention pressure. A pump circulates a thermal transfer fluid through the at least one fluid channel of each thermal panel, the pump to create a fluid pressure within the at least one fluid channel of each thermal panel that is greater than or equal to the stack pressure.