Automotive & motorsport


Fastener challenges for hybrid and electric vehicles


In 2021, the UK replaced France as Europe’s second largest electric car market, after 31,800 new electric vehicles were sold in the first three months of the year. As emissions legislation tightens, government incentives increase and demand spirals, manufacturers are rapidly scaling up their electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid vehicle manufacturing.


Here Justin Lawrence, applications engineer at TFC, discusses the challenges when producing hybrid and electric vehicles and explains how they can be overcome.


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n 2020, almost ten billion pounds was spent by governments globally on incentives and tax deductions for electric car purchases - a 25 per cent year-on-year rise. This is just one incentive for an environmentally savvy consumer base, which purchased and registered over three million new electric cars worldwide in the


same year. For the first time, Europe led over China and the US with 1.4 million registrations, while the UK more than doubled its registrations to 176,000. With demand set to increase as total cost of ownership lowers, manufacturers are looking for ways to mass-produce EVs efficiently.


ConnECTor CHALLEngEs Electric vehicle manufacturing will require far more connectors than the production of internal combustion engine (ICEs) cars. One reason is the use of connectors in EV charging stations and other supporting infrastructure. Another is increased design complexity - the battery, for example, requires more cooling, which increases connector requirements. There can be double the number of


Justin Lawrence, applications engineer at TFC


February 2022 Instrumentation Monthly


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