A vehicle component (1) is provided for cooling a traction battery (101) that has at least one battery module (102) with at least one battery cell (103). The vehicle component (1) has a cooling device (2) with a duct system (3) through which a cooling medium can flow. The duct system (3) runs along the battery module (102) for absorbing heat. The battery module (102) has a first cooling duct (13) and a second cooling duct (23). The cooling device (2) is suitable and designed for charging the first and second cooling ducts (13, 23) with the coolant in parallel.