Issue link: https://te.mouser.com/i/1450914
TE CONNECTIVITY INDUSTRIAL & COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION /// WHITE PAPER PAGE 5 Electrifying a Movement Addressing the Time to Charge Industrial and Commercial Transportation Vehicles drink from a firehose. Connections, cables, and switches/ contactors must all be able to intelligently manage this power transfer, dealing with heat, arcing, and safety issues. New thermal modeling and simulations 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. Figure 3 shows a simplified representation of a connectiv- ity architecture that each vehicle manufacturer develops and customizes to its needs. As a connectivity supplier, TE Connectivity works closely with customers to support their success by providing robust solutions tailored to their specific needs and vehicle architectures. Specifically, for fast charging, TE Connectivity supports customers by break- ing down application requirements from the charging inlet through the battery by answering a series of smaller, more focused questions. When we work with our customers, we help them evaluate: • How do vehicles best address varying global standards? Referencing Figure 2, there are many competing world- wide standards for the charging plug interface, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. TE Connec- tivity, working with global customers and across multiple transportation segments, has tailored solutions to match the market needs. This is achieved via a modular, platform building block approach which enables TE to quickly and cost-effectively deliver the right solutions at the right time. • Does more power mean more heat? Thermal manage- ment for charging is the biggest challenge for the inlet, plug, and cable. Simple physics dictates that P=V*I; Heat = I2R (where P = Power; V = Voltage; I = Current; R = Resistance). Typical battery packs are currently at 480V. Moving from 50kW (480Vx100A) to 240kW (480Vx500A) is ~5X increase in power for 25X increase in heat. TE Connectivity has an in-house electro-thermal modeling and simulation capability, allowing for optimized design of components and subsystems that can be stressed by the high charging voltage and current needs. • Does the higher power required to do fast charging drive technology advances in the vehicle charging inlet? TE Connectivity has developed charging inlets, with inte- grated sensing and actuation capability, to allow for intelligent charging control while providing touch-safe operation and charging state feedback safely and reli- ably. These inlets can be scaled to accommodate varying customer electrical/electronic architectures inside the vehicle, from discrete point-to-point operation or via dis- tributed intelligent control. TE's architecture and electron- ics teams delivers solutions to fit varying charging station approaches and protocols. • Does higher power mean bigger wires and bigger connec- tions? Currents exceeding 200A require cooling to keep cable and connector sizes manageable from the charging station to the vehicle. Simply growing the connection elements will 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. TE Connectivity works with cus- tomers to proactively address these complex problems, leveraging material science and contacts physics exper- tise as well as employing active cooling and advanced Figure 4: High Power Connectivity Path: Thermal Modelling