EV Charging Innovations: Breaking Barriers to Adoption

Dominique Freckmann, Director of Innovation and Technology, Transportation Solutions at TE Connectivity

One of the fastest growing segments in the automobile market, electric vehicles is the future of mobility. According to the International Energy Agency, worldwide EV sales doubled in 2021, and signs point to continued exponential growth as OEMs set ambitious targets, aiming for EVs to compose 40%, 50% or even 100% of new automobile sales in the next decade and a half. Despite rapid growth, charging concerns and range anxiety still prove to be barriers to adoption of electric mobility for some consumers. They expect EV “refueling” to take minutes, not hours, and desire convenient, easily accessible stations for safe and reliable charging.

As demand for electric mobility continues to rise, fast charging has become an increasing priority. Concurrent with the expansion of high-performance charging station infrastructure around the world, TE Connectivity is addressing EV charging concerns with innovative, high performing connectors.

Given the relatively limited amount of time EVs have been in existence, charging standardization still lags in both vehicles and charging stations, making the goal of robust, high-performance charging quite challenging.  

Despite the increase in international standards for electrical charging interfaces, the technology is relatively new, leading to unknown, unspecified long-term environmental influences. There is a large variety of charging connectors on the infrastructure side, with many different contact materials and designs. In addition, public charging stations present a chance of contamination transfer between mating partners in the charging process. Finally, there is the risk of long-term wear and tear due to the high number of mating cycles, most likely over 10,000 in the lifetime of the charging inlet.

Wear and tear on charging inlets, especially when using public charging stations that are typically exposed to dirt, salt and other abrasives and might not be properly maintained, can degrade electrical terminals. This can lead to reduced energy transfer efficiency, resulting in longer charging times. What is more, high-powered charging stations delivering DC currents of 500 amps or more generate extreme heat, leading to a slowdown in charging speed. 

“Electric mobility charging technologies are in a constant state of advancement. To continue to improve the convenience, reliability and safety of the EV experience, TE engineers work closely with virtually every OEM to help them solve challenges and break down barriers to EV adoption.”

TE Connectivity is addressing the risk for charging inlet wear and tear that can lengthen charging times with innovations in connectors, such as metallic surface plating technology. TE’s TENDUR surface plating technology uses a unique combination of silver and graphite, which can deliver strong conductivity performance with self-lubricating graphite particles. These particles minimize abrasion on any part of the contact zone during mating. TENDUR’s superior abrasion resistance is designed to withstand up to 50,000 charging cycles, five times the 10,000-cycle average lifespan of a standard charging inlet. 

As a result, the resistance of the charging connections remains low over the vehicle’s lifetime and ensures that the charging duration does not increase over time.While the charging inlets of cars without an abrasion resistant surface might have to be replaced over the vehicle’s lifetime due to the wear, this is not necessary with TENDUR plating – so it’s not only more convenient, because charging is faster, but also more sustainable.

In response to the desire for sustainable high performing connectors, TE has also created GreenSilver, a state-of-the-art contact surface plating technology designed to enhance connector performance in high voltage applications other than the charging inlet. Environmental concerns over water and energy consumption, along with the extensive use of metals in EV manufacturing, are driving more sustainable innovations in high-performance charging.  GreenSilver uses less precious metal than traditional connectors do, yet still delivers the same electrical performance, in addition to providing enhanced vibration and heat tolerance needed in the electrical power train. This breakthrough non-galvanic dry plating process eliminates the use of hazardous materials, while achieving a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 99% reduction in water consumption in production.

Electric mobility solutions, including charging technologies, are in a constant state of advancement. To continue to improve the convenience, reliability and safety of the EV experience, TE engineers work closely with virtually every OEM to help them solve challenges and break down barriers to EV adoption.