Ask The Expert - Custom Battery Charging Connectors

While electric vehicles are rarely out of the news at the moment, many sources are focusing on the big four-wheelers that are going electric. But they forget about the poor cousin, the two-wheelers. The current market of eBikes and eScooters is booming, with 20 million scooters being manufactured each year in India alone.

The $30 billion dollar market for eBikes and eScooters will be driven by the rise of Transport as a Service (TaaS). The TaaS business model reduces the emphasis on vehicle ownership and promotes alternative solutions to mobility. The average family car sits idle for up to 97% of its life, and eMobility will provide a far more effective and efficient alternative.

Modern e-bikes and e-scooters are especially attractive solutions for cities, providing a pollution-free, accessible, and convenient solution for commuters. E-bikes are typically found at fixed charging stands near high-traffic areas such as subway stations and bus stops. Commuters use a smartphone app to rent the bikes, returning them to any of the fixed locations around the city.

In contrast, e-scooters are typically described as dockless. They are designed to be left around the city, allowing them to be rented for as long as needed before being left for the next user. Equipped with GPS tracking devices, scooters are collected at the end of the day by city authorities and taken to a central location for charging and maintenance. They are then returned to the streets, ready for the rush hour of the next morning.

These new commuter solutions have taken advantage of the improved Li-ion battery technology that has emerged from the automotive industry. They offer the best combination of compact size, moderate weight, and energy capacity for the city environment. However, although these vehicles are intended for short urban journeys, their design must provide the same level of safety as traditional electric vehicles.

The challenge is to ensure that these vehicles can withstand constant use, exposed to the elements. With batteries expected to function for up to 10 years and 7,000 charging cycles, the charging connector will play a key role in ensuring the long-term reliability.

In this Ask The Expert video, I am joined by Raaj Srinivas from Amphenol Communication Solutions, who talks us through some of the challenges that eMobility equipment needs to face. We talk about some of the key requirements for the charging connector, and how Amphenol is delivering solutions for designers.

Join Raaj and me as we look at how custom connectors are helping to solve some of the challenges of creating eBikes and eScooters for the city streets of tomorrow.

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