Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for the configuration and control of charging and cooling systems for aircrafts driven by electric propulsion systems and in other types of vehicles. In some embodiments, a method of charging an aircraft is disclosed comprising: receiving a mode of operation indicating whether battery packs of the aircraft are connected in parallel prior to joining a charging bus, receiving charging protocol information, and controlling charging operations of the battery packs based on the mode of operation and the charging protocol information.