Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1510154
22 EV and Connected Transportation obvious. These demands are driving the industry to focus on a broad range of solutions to solve never-before-seen challenges. Charging inlets must be able to handle 10 to 20 times the power that today's generation of electric cars can accept. Trying to push up to megawatts or even gigawatts of power through an inlet sized to handle 50kW is like drinking from a firehose. Connections, cables, switches, and contactors will all be subjected to increased electric stresses and must be able to intelligently manage this power transfer while also mitigating heat, arcing, and safety issues. New contact platings need to be developed to reduce heat and mitigate wear and tear from a high number of connection mating cycles and from public charging plugs that can transfer damage and abrasives to the vehicle's charging inlet. New thermal management and simulation techniques need to be developed, allowing for optimized design of components and subsystems that can be stressed by the high charging voltage and current needs. Accurate sensing, both contacting and non- contacting, needs to provide real-time information for intelligent power management. As a connectivity supplier to the EV market, TE Connectivity (TE) works closely with customers by providing robust components and solutions tailored to their specific needs and vehicle architectures. For both fast and high-power DC charging, TE breaks down application requirements by answering a series of smaller, more focused questions: How do vehicles best address varying global standards? There are many competing worldwide standards for the charging plug interface, each with its own advantages and disadvantages (Figure 2). TE Connectivity participates in various standards committees and industry consortia, enabling the identification of problems and the development of solutions early in the design process. TE, working with global customers and across multiple transportation segments, has tailored solutions to match the market's needs. This is achieved via a modular, platform- building-block approach that enables TE to deliver the right solutions quickly and cost-effectively. Does more power mean more heat? Thermal management for charging is the biggest challenge for the inlet, plug, and cable. Simple physics dictates that P=V*I; Heat = I 2 R (where P = Power; V = Voltage; I =Current; R = Resistance). Typical battery packs are currently at 480V. Moving from 50kW (480V × 100A) to 240kW (480V × 500A) is ~5x increase in power and 25x increase in heat. TE has an in-house electrothermal modeling and simulation capability, allowing for the optimized design of components and subsystems that can be stressed by the high charging voltages and currents. Does the higher power required to do DC fast and high-power charging drive technology advances in the vehicle charging inlet? TE has developed charging inlets with integrated sensing and actuation capability, to allow for intelligent charging control while providing touch- safe operation and reliable charging state feedback. These inlets can be scaled to accommodate varying customer electrical/electronic architectures inside the vehicle, from discrete point-to-point operation to distributed intelligent control. TE's architecture and electronics teams deliver solutions to fit varying charging station approaches and protocols. Does higher power mean bigger wires and bigger connections? Currents exceeding 200A require cooling to keep cable and connector sizes manageable from the charging station to the vehicle. Simply using larger cables and connectors will eventually make them unusable and cost prohibitive. Similar challenges exist inside the vehicle. While the connection from the inlet need not be physically handled like a charging cable, it still needs to be as small, light, and cost-efficient as possible. Vehicle electrification is gathering steam " "