Month: March 2025

In a recent interview with Charged, Matt Reynolds from TDK provided a detailed look into the role and design of high-voltage DC contactors used in electric vehicles. These vital safety devices manage the connection and disconnection between the battery and other high-voltage systems like the inverter or charging port. Most EVs use at least four contactors strategically placed within the battery disconnect unit to control current flow during charging and operation.

During the conversation, Reynolds explained the importance of contact resistance in determining a contactor’s efficiency and current-carrying capacity. Lower contact resistance reduces heat buildup, which is essential for maintaining safe operating temperatures—especially when handling up to 500 amps of continuous current. He also noted that contact resistance can shift slightly over time due to arcing during current-breaking events, but TDK’s design ensures long-term reliability.

The interview also covered the construction of TDK’s contactors, specifically their use of a ceramic switching chamber that is hermetically sealed. This chamber is filled with a custom gas mixture designed to quench electrical arcs and maintain performance over time. Reynolds emphasized that this approach, rooted in TDK’s long history with gas discharge tube technology, offers better lifetime performance and reliability than resin-sealed alternatives.

Reynolds explained coil design options, comparing TDK’s dual coil system with pulse-width modulation (PWM) approaches. The dual coil method uses higher power briefly to close the contact, then switches to a lower power to hold it, offering energy savings without the EMI concerns sometimes associated with PWM. This makes it a clean, efficient solution for EV applications.

To learn more, watch TDK’s recent webinar:
Optimizing EV Safety And Efficiency With The Right High Voltage Contactor

And visit TDK’s High-Voltage Contactors site here.

Engineering, construction, manufacturing and clean energy company Faith Technologies Incorporated (FTI), headquartered in Wisconsin, has launched its Excellerate eSkid EV charging product for above-ground cable routing. 

It is designed to reduce site disruption and enable easy relocation in commercial and fleet applications. 

Each Excellerate eSkid unit can support up to 1 MW of EV charging and can power up to eight DC fast chargers in various orientations. Plans call for expanding the product’s capacity to 2.5 MW.

“We’ve designed the Excellerate eSkid to streamline deployment of EV charging infrastructure,” said Jon Branson, VP and General Manager of Products at FTI. “The above-ground installation reduces trenching challenges and provides customers the flexibility to choose from several product configurations to meet their EV charging needs.”

Source: Faith Technologies Incorporated

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Slovenia-headquartered Etrel, a provider of EV charging stations and charging management software, has announced its acquisition by KD Group, a Slovenia-based financial and investment management company. 

The transaction marks the end of the liquidation process initiated for Landis+Gyr EV Solutions. According to Etrel, its service operations will remain unchanged during the transition.

Etrel has a presence in more than 40 countries worldwide and is known for its INCH interactive EV charging and its OCEAN software platform for EV charging network management.

Commenting on the acquisition was KD Group CEO Gregor Sluga: “This investment reflects our confidence in the company’s role in shaping a smarter, more sustainable future. This is also an important opportunity for further support of the development of Slovenia’s entrepreneurial and innovation landscape, fostering local expertise and reinforcing the country’s position as a hub for advanced technology in the global e-mobility market.”

Source: Landis+Gyr

German chemical company Henkel has launched its Bergquist Liqui Form TLF 6500 CGel-SF to deliver heat dissipation for autonomous driving systems.

By delivering a higher level of conductivity, the thermal curable gel is designed to prevent performance degradation and protect the sensitive ADAS domain controllers that enable real-time vehicle decision-making from heat degradation and damage. As ADAS systems process higher volumes of sensor and vehicle data at higher speeds, effective heat management will become critical to ensure the performance, reliability, and longevity of these components, the company said.

The silicone-free thermal management material has a conductivity of 6.5 W/(m·K) and is designed to provide reliability and easier handling. As a cured elastomer, it offers ultra-low compression stress to protect fragile assemblies and sensitive electronic components. It fills air voids and irregular gaps to ensure even heat transfer across the surface and can be dispensed at high speed to match with just-in-time manufacture processing.

The gel avoids cracking or thermal failure during thermal cycling, extending component lifespan. It protects operators at the production line and avoids fogging issues for components with lenses such as cameras.

“As safety standards and OEM and driver expectations evolve, ADAS systems are becoming ever more sophisticated. This makes it vital to effectively manage the heat generated by domain controllers to ensure their long-term reliability. Our top OEM partners, for example, are launching a high-intelligence vehicle platform which needs to process up to 4.5 terabytes of data per hour. This fivefold increase of data generates high heat concentration, requiring more effective thermal solutions to avoid component failure,” said Nancy Yang, Henkel’s Business Development Manager for Automotive Electronics North America.

Source: Henkel