Low temperature environment has a significant impact on the performance and reliability of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), particularly in terms of capacity, posing challenges to their safety and availability. However, existing studies primarily focus on cooling technologies for high temperatures, while less attention is paid to the preheating and heat preservation performance under low temperatures. In this study, a simple and effective battery thermal management system (BTMS) combines phase change material (PCM) and heating plates (HPs) is developed. The influence of structures, PCMs, composite phase change material (CPCM), and battery spacing is investigated. Additionally, the essential of insulation is emphasized. Furthermore, the utilization of natural thermal insulation material in BTMS is explored, and the influence of insulation thickness during both preheating and insulation stages are researched. The results indicate that the proposed BTMS can preheat the batteries to 20 °C under four typical low temperatures of 0 °C (480 s), −10 °C (720 s), −20 °C (900 s), and − 30 °C (1200 s). The temperature differences can be controlled below 3 °C. Moreover, the temperature can be maintained above 10 °C for approximately 4 h in the parking stage. A thickness of 10 mm is found to be sufficient. Overall, the energy compensation value above 5 is achieved under most low temperatures.