<p>Amidst significant shifts in global energy systems, electric vehicles (EVs) now dominate automotive industry strategies, primarily owing to their environmental benefits and alignment with sustainability goals. The pursuit of fast-charging capability, extended range, and enhanced safety has driven innovation in lithium-ion batteries, particularly in improving energy density and developing rapid-charging technologies. These advancements, however, pose increasingly challenging problems for battery thermal management systems. The refrigerant direct cooling system (RDCS) emerges as a technologically advanced solution for power battery thermal management, capitalizing on phase-change latent heat mechanisms to achieve enhanced thermal transfer efficiency, rapid dynamic response, and exceptional temperature homogeneity, critical for maintaining lithium-ion batteries within their ideal operational thresholds in electric vehicles. Currently, systematic reviews focusing on this technology remain relatively scarce. To address this gap, this paper establishes for the first time an analytical framework encompassing technology classification, working mechanisms, system integration and control, and performance evaluation. Under this framework, a comprehensive review of the latest research and application advances in refrigerant direct cooling technology (RDCT) for power battery thermal management is conducted from the two dimensions of contact and non-contact. Through an in-depth analysis of the advantages and shortcomings of different dimensions of the RDCS for power batteries, future perspectives for future development are presented, aiming to establish theoretical foundations and provide scientific guidance for the industrialized application of RDCT in the field of PBTMS for EVs.</p>