Charging Infrastructure Growth Could Impact Supply Chains

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Published June 4, 2021

Mouser Electronics Technical Content Team | Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 35 seconds.

Along our roadways, we’re witnessing increasing evidence of the electric vehicle (EV) industry's growth. More EVs are sharing the road with their gasoline-powered counterparts. More charging stations are popping up along roadsides to dispense electrical power into these vehicles.

It's not just passenger EVs. Larger-scale EV charging infrastructure rollouts are taking place to support work trucks within freight yards and docks. Municipalities and the contractors who serve them are electrifying their fleets. Expect to see a significant wave of equipment selection and infrastructure construction, allowing those vehicles to operate by day and recharge at night.

For now, EV charging stations in the U.S., Europe, and China are a hodgepodge network of different manufacturers. It remains to be seen how EV manufacturers such as Tesla and Rivian will focus on proprietary charging systems that will affect their supply chains or the choices made by other vehicle manufacturers.

From an electronics-manufacturing standpoint, the commercial vehicle and freight carrier side of electrification should drive the future. Yet, questions remain around precisely what types of connectors, chargers, and methods will be widely adopted.

For original equipment manufacturers who want to design charging station infrastructure, no single guideline exists. However, out of these competing visions and standards, expect one or more accepted standards to emerge.

Three groups—CharIN EV, SAE, and Electrify Americaare—are working to standardize charging infrastructure. The Combined Charging System or CCS Type 1 seems most likely to prevail among different charging interface standards for North America, with D.C. fast-charging options (including liquid-cooled systems) expected to be released in 2021.

Tesla's proprietary Supercharger system is also being widely deployed, although it remains to be seen how much this will affect charging outside of the passenger vehicle space.

For now, expect to see a period of multiple standards and interfaces as different stakeholders work to control the customer experience and maintain a profit stream.

Vehicle OEMs also need to stay focused on how charging infrastructure is being built and increased, and which compatible downstream electronic components can be used—including logic and controllers, filters, H.V. fusing, contactors, timers, interconnects, and more.

Any constraints on components used in battery electric vehicles (BEV)—whether in the vehicles themselves or in charging infrastructure—will affect not only rates of adoption but charging standard selection.

The organizations working to create these future standards have high-performing, well-respected suppliers involved in the process. This means it's vital to choose the right suppliers to partner with today, not only for charging infrastructure designs but the components that will go into them. Manufacturers are pushing to provide products that can deliver concentrated high power in shorter periods. What’s in it for buyers? To keep on top of the technology, buyers should:

• Educate themselves on the EV industry. Stay informed on new charging standards and follow charging interface trends.
• Choose partners who are participating in developing these standards or have a reputation behind supporting the standards that exist today.

Looking back from the end of this decade, we might find that 2021 was the critical point when the standards of tomorrow were determined.

This article contains information from TTI and the Mouser Electronics technical content team.