As EV technology advances, engineers are under pressure to design systems that are smaller, faster, and more energy dense, while still passing demanding safety and EMC tests.
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This push creates new challenges: higher heat fluxes in tighter spaces, increased risk of electrical breakdown, and greater sensitivity to vibration, fire, and interference.
While cells and power electronics get the most attention, the materials that surround and protect them often determine system reliability, safety, and performance. Let’s look at the critical design problems and how different materials help engineers solve them.
Managing Heat in Compact Systems
As power density increases, components such as IGBTs, MOSFETs, and battery cells generate more heat in less volume. Smaller housings mean less surface area for dissipation, while uneven gaps between components and heatsinks create hotspots. Just a 5 °C difference between cells can accelerate aging in the hotter cells and reduce overall pack life by up to 20 %.
Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) bridge the gap between components while filling in the microscopic air voids, which impede efficient thermal transfer. By conforming to rough surfaces and spreading heat evenly, they prevent localized overheating. In practice, this means tighter cell temperature control, longer battery life, and more reliable high-power operation.
Protecting Against the Environment and Fire
Smaller housings make scaling more difficult, yet EV batteries and charges face dust, water spray, salt fog, and vibration. Ingress can corrode connectors, short sensors, or trigger failures. More critically, the energy density of modern packs increases the consequences of a thermal event; once started, a fire can propagate quickly without containment.
Sealing foams and gaskets block environmental ingress at joints and interfaces, while fire-resistant barriers delay flame spread and buy time for containment systems to activate. Vibration-dampening materials reduce mechanical fatigue, extending the durability of solder joints and electrical connections.
Together, they ensure that miniaturised designs can still meet IP67/IP68 and fire safety requirements.
Ensuring EMC Compliance in Crowded Electronics
As charges and battery management systems become more compact, signal and power traces sit closer together. Switching speeds are rising, which increases electromagnetic emissions. The result is a higher risk of crosstalk, interference, and regulatory test failures. With CISPR 25 limits tightening, poorly shielded enclosures are a major cause of costly redesigns.
Conductive foams, shielding films, and absorbing pads create barriers that redirect or dissipate unwanted signals. By integrating shielding into small gaps and connectors, engineers can protect sensitive control electronics without adding bulky enclosures.
Effective materials make the difference between repeated EMI test failures and first-pass compliance.
Maintaining Electrical Isolation Under High Voltages
To achieve faster charging and greater efficiency, EV systems are moving from 400 V architectures to 800 V and beyond. Higher voltages reduce charging time but push insulating materials to their limits. In compact layouts, even a slight weakness can lead to arcing or shorts. More than half of battery system recalls are linked to isolation failures.
High dielectric films and laminates insulate busbars, modules, and control boards while withstanding elevated thermal loads. Stable materials prevent creep or breakdown over time, even under constant vibration and cycling temperatures. This ensures that shrinking clearances don’t compromise safety.
Reducing Vibration and Mechanical Fatigue
Lightweight EV platforms transmit more vibration into battery and charger assemblies. At the same time, denser electronics mean more solder joints, interconnects, and sensitive components that are prone to fatigue. Excessive vibration can increase solder joint failure rates by up to 30 % across a vehicle’s lifecycle.
Foams and engineered plastics act as cushions and support, absorbing shock and accommodating expansion. They stabilize cells and boards within compact housings, protecting against both road vibration and thermal cycling. By managing mechanical strain, they extend component life without adding significant weight.
Conclusion
As EV systems evolve toward higher power density and tighter packaging, traditional design approaches are no longer enough to guarantee safety and reliability. Engineers must think beyond cells and semiconductors, addressing thermal balance, electrical isolation, fire safety, EMC compliance, and vibration management at the material level.
Every layer of material, from a thermal pad to a fire barrier or an insulating film, plays a direct role in system performance and longevity. By treating materials as a core part of the engineering toolkit rather than an afterthought, design teams can avoid costly failures, accelerate certification, and extend the life of EV batteries and chargers.
How Materials Direct Supports Your EV Design
At Materials Direct, we don’t just supply materials, we make them easier to access and use, with our brand-new online ordering system you can get any technical material you want manufactured to any shape or design you want from complex designs to simple shapes we can do it all.
Here’s how we help EV design engineers:
- Sourced from Trusted Brands: All materials come from approved global manufacturers used across the industry.
- Converted in-house: We precision-cut each part to your drawings, DXF files, and specifications.
- No MOQ: Order one-off prototypes or production volumes all in one place without constraint.
- Fast Despatch: We offer despatch within 24 hours, so you can keep your projects moving.
Whether you’re developing a new EV platform or refining a thermal or EMI issue in testing, we’re here to help you source the right materials, cut them to spec, and get them delivered without delays or complexity.
Let’s Get Your Project Moving!
Need thermal pads, shielding gaskets, electrical insulation, or fire barriers, cut to spec and delivered fast? Materials Direct makes it simple.
See our range of materials and get an instant quote with our specialized online ordering system. No minimums, no waiting. Just the right materials, ready when you are.
This information has been sourced, reviewed, and adapted from materials provided by Materials Direct.
For more information on this source, please visit Materials Direct.