Today, as the new energy vehicle industry is advancing at a breakneck pace, “cost reduction” and “innovation” have become the core propositions running through the entire industrial chain.
With the acceleration of automotive intelligence and electrification, the traditional 12V electrical architecture is no longer capable of meeting the power supply demands of high-power-consuming devices. The industry is gradually upgrading to a 48V architecture.
Under the 48V architecture, when the voltage doubles and the current is halved, the wiring becomes thinner, enabling the transmission of the same power with less copper. Meanwhile, in response to the demands of automotive lightweighting and cost reduction in the industry, the substitution of copper with aluminum is emerging as a new technological trend.
As a global leader in connectivity and sensing technologies, TE has launched a new generation of automotive low-voltage current-carrying aluminum wire technology at this Munich Electronics Show. Through the optimization of material formulas and the innovation of connection processes, it provides the industry with an aluminum solution that can replace copper and has both cost reduction potential and reliability.
Against this backdrop, International Cable & Connectors has specially invited Mr. Yuan Wei, Senior Engineering Manager of TE Automotive Division in China, to have an in-depth discussion on key issues such as the design of efficient connection systems under the 48V architecture, the industrial application prospects of aluminum replacing copper technology, and innovative collaboration in the context of global supply chain transformation.
01
The rigid demand for copper reduction spurs technological innovation: From “substitution anxiety” to “first principles” for a breakthrough
With the explosive growth of automotive electronic configurations, the disadvantages of traditional copper wires in terms of cost and weight have become increasingly prominent.
Yuan Wei admitted that the Chinese auto market alone consumes tens of thousands of tons of copper wire every year, and the fluctuation of copper prices and supply chain risks have made “reducing copper usage” a consensus in the industry.
However, the long-term use of aluminum instead of copper has been plagued by two major technical barriers: electrochemical corrosion and creep of aluminum materials, which has led the industry into a predicament of “wanting to use but not daring to use”.
Yuan Wei pointed out that in the past, the industry attempted to address the issue by using methods such as sealant and enhanced crimping as “patches”, but given the annual production scale of billions of terminals, even the slightest quality fluctuation could lead to catastrophic consequences.
TE’s solution to breaking the deadlock starts with the “first principle”: If the potential difference between copper and aluminum is the root cause of corrosion, why not make both the terminals and the wires aluminum-based materials?
Yuan Wei pointed out that the technological breakthrough of TE stems from the reconstruction of the first principle.
1. Copper-aluminum composite terminal design: The connection part of the terminal retains copper material to ensure strength, while the part in contact with the wire harness is changed to a special aluminum alloy, achieving aluminum-aluminum welding and fundamentally eliminating potential differences.
2. Research and development of creep-resistant aluminum alloys: Through joint efforts with the original metal materials enterprises, a new type of aluminum alloy with mechanical properties comparable to pure copper has been developed. After testing, its creep performance is consistent with that of pure copper within the design life required by automobiles.
3. Innovation in high-speed welding technology: The KOMAX fully automatic equipment is being upgraded, allowing for the quick replacement of existing crimping workstations with welding workstations. This ensures that the welding efficiency is consistent with the crimping efficiency, meeting the requirements of small investment by wire harness manufacturers and high-efficiency production.
“Cost reduction for aluminum wires cannot be solely based on material price differences. We have established a verification system with equipment suppliers, material suppliers, and automakers to ensure quality control in every step from alloy casting to final assembly. “Yuan Wei took TE’s 0.19mm² fine wire technology launched last year as an example. This solution overcame the strength bottleneck through structural breakthroughs and has completed PV verification. The first mass-produced vehicle will be launched this month.
It is reported that TE’s 0.19mm² multi-win composite wire has entered the mass production stage and has undergone trial verification on 18 models of 14 OEMs. Each vehicle can save 1.2 kilograms of copper, achieving a cost reduction of nearly 100 yuan.
This technology enhances the structure with copper-clad steel cores, reducing copper usage by 60% and offering superior mechanical performance compared to 0.35mm² pure copper wires, thus breaking the strength bottleneck of traditional thin-diameter conductors. Behind this set of technological combination punches lies TE’s in-depth insight into the pain points of the automotive industry.
Yuan Wei emphasized that the core of aluminum wire technology lies in the collaborative innovation of “advanced materials + advanced processes + cooperation within the circle of friends”.
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48V Architecture
The Breakthrough Solution: System-level Collaborative Innovation
If the technical bottleneck of “aluminum replacing copper” in low-voltage circuits mainly lies in the basic materials and processes, then the 48V architecture is constrained by the cost balance at the vehicle system level. With the proliferation of automotive electronic configurations, from intelligent cockpits to advanced autonomous driving, the current carrying capacity of the 12V system is approaching its limit. The advantages of the 48V architecture are obvious: under the same power, the current is reduced to 1/4, the wire diameter is reduced, the copper usage is decreased, and the heat generation is reduced to 1/16, simplifying the design of the cooling system. The reduction of copper and the upgrade of the 48V low-voltage electrical architecture show a strong synergy effect. Yuan Wei pointed out that the 48V system reduces the current by increasing the voltage, which can reduce the amount of conductors, and the application of aluminum wires further amplifies this advantage: under the same current-carrying capacity, aluminum wires can simultaneously reduce costs and weight by 50% compared to copper wires, reducing at least 5kg of copper usage per vehicle. Based on an annual production capacity of 30 million vehicles, this can save tens of thousands of tons of copper resources annually. However, the flip side is the new challenges brought by the voltage increase. Yuan Wei explained using small and medium power motors as an example that 48V motors need to consider NVH more, and the upgrade of connector materials and structures also increases marginal costs. Currently, the industry only partially applies 48V in high-power components (such as braking systems), and the full-scale promotion urgently needs to find a “cost reduction lever”.
TE’s solution approach is “system-level collaborative innovation”. By deeply integrating aluminum wire technology with the 48V architecture, the cost reduction effect is amplified.
Under the 48V architecture, the increase in wire diameter can be offset by the reduction in current. If the substitution of aluminum wire is combined with the optimization of the layout of the domain controller, the weight reduction of the wiring harness and the cost reduction of the system will have a multiplier effect.
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Reconstruction of the industrial chain:
From “zero-sum game” to “win-win ecosystem”
In TE’s view, the real challenge of automotive electrification does not lie in breakthroughs in individual technologies, but in building a value-sharing industrial chain ecosystem.
At a recent media exchange meeting, Sun Xiaoguang, Vice President and General Manager of TE Automotive Division in China, presented a typical case: A European manufacturer once developed a 0.13mm² alloy copper wire alternative solution, which saved copper materials but led to a decline in the production efficiency of the wire harness factory. Eventually, the project failed as the system cost did not decrease but increased instead.
This example confirms the industry’s unbreakable rule that “innovation does not equal commercialization”, meaning that a mere technological breakthrough, when it disrupts the distribution of interests in the industrial chain, will eventually lead to a “blockage” of the technology.
In this exclusive interview, Yuan Wei also talked about TE’s win-win concept and emphasized the optimization of overall cost.
He explained that in the promotion of aluminum wire technology, TE not only provides connector solutions but also deeply involves in material research and development, equipment modification, and the solidification of production parameters and other links.
Yuan Wei believes that for the coordinated development of the 800V high-voltage platform and the 48V low-voltage architecture, “the material revolution of high and low voltage systems will converge despite their different paths.”
In the high-voltage field, TE has launched achievements such as aluminum busbar technology and successfully brought them to the market. In line with this architectural change, the innovative experience in low-voltage systems is expected to bring more value to customers.
At the end of the interview, Yuan Wei particularly mentioned TE’s unique innovation path in the Chinese market. That is, when the industry was trapped in “intra-industry competition”, TE chose to return to the essential question: under the background of limited strategic reserves of copper materials, how to find alternative solutions that do not rely on scarce resources?
In this material revolution sweeping through the automotive industry, TE is redefining the value boundaries of connectors with its technological depth.
This “zero-based thinking” has driven TE to form deep partnerships with local material enterprises, starting from the research and development of basic alloys to build technological barriers.
From aluminum wire technology to 48V architecture, from material innovation to ecological co-construction, TE’s practices reveal that cost reduction under the trend of copper reduction is essentially a systemic transformation.
When technological breakthroughs and industrial collaboration resonate with each other, and when “cost reduction in individual links” evolves into “value reconstruction of the entire chain”, automotive connection technology is undergoing a leap from “usable” to “user-friendly” and then to “win-win”.