As electric and hybrid electric vehicles address the world’s energy and emissions crises, automakers and battery manufacturers are rapidly developing new materials and solutions to advance those technologies. Consumer demands and competitive pressures have led automakers to add a growing number of functions and features to their vehicles, which in turn affects electrical/electronic architecture and components.
More and more conventional mechanical functions are migrating to electronic applications, e.g., power steering and electric park systems. Improving power component performance, using design techniques that spread heat more evenly, and incorporating new heat sink materials are some of the solutions that have been proposed to enhance thermal management. Nevertheless, designers still rely heavily on secondary protection to help stop thermal runaway events that can be generated by power component failures or corrosion-induced heating.
Read more from Canada’s Electronics Products and Technology.
