Technical Trend and Market Forecast of High-Voltage Connector

With the increasing explosive power of new energy vehicles in the market, the market scale of automobile connectors is constantly expanding. According to the forecast of the global connector market research organization, the global automobile connector market will reach USD 19.452 billion in 2025, of which China's automobile connector market will occupy 23% with a scale of USD 4.468 billion. According to the data of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as "China Automobile Association"), from January to September this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China were 4.717 million and 4.567 million respectively, up by 120% and 110% respectively, and the market share of new energy vehicles has reached 23.5%. China is the largest automobile producer in the world, and it is also a leading country in the R&D and output of new energy vehicles. In the next few years, the market size of vehicle connectors in China is expected to exceed the forecast of Bishop&Associates. On this basis, focusing on the technical requirements and market demand of "high-voltage connector", this paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of on-board connector when new energy vehicles are booming. The objects of this discussion are: the whole vehicle-Shenzhen BYD Auto Co., Ltd.; Car connector field-Basba New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.; Commercial vehicle connector field-Huizhou Lingyue Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd..

The so-called "high-voltage connector" is the connector that serves the high-voltage system in the automobile. Traditional fuel vehicles mainly rely on the engine and fuel to meet the requirements of mechanical kinetic energy, and have no excessive requirements for voltage; However, electric vehicles use electricity as energy, and supply the kinetic energy of the vehicles with the help of power batteries, drive motors and drive motor controllers, which puts forward higher standards for the voltage and current carrying capacity of related components.

In 2009, China issued the "Automobile Industry Adjustment and Revitalization Plan", and launched the "Ten Cities and Thousand Vehicles" subsidy program to promote new energy vehicles. Since then, China's high-voltage connectors have been advancing with the pace of new energy vehicles, and have developed to the fourth generation.

Xu Ping 'an, chief technology officer of Bath, told us that the new "secondary unlocking" function of the third generation products can protect the core electrical components of the products and ensure the safety of users; The fourth generation product has smaller volume, higher current density and controllable temperature rise, which provides better safety and reliability for high-power charging and discharging. Vehicle-mounted connectors are mainly used in systems such as lithium batteries, motors, electronic controls, DC/DC converters, OBC, PDU, etc. They work together with high-voltage wiring harnesses to convey the kinetic energy of batteries to various components by means of high-voltage and high-current lines. Different system components and differences in cross-sectional areas of conductors have different requirements for the electrical performance of vehicle-mounted connectors. Generally speaking, the rated voltage of high-voltage connectors ranges from 60V to 1500V, and the rated current ranges from 20A to 300A. In addition, the vehicle connector has high requirements for mechanical properties and environmental properties of products. According to Xu Ping 'an, high-quality high-voltage connector products must pass various mechanical performance tests, environmental tests, and electrical properties, such as terminal holding force, connector plugging force, drop test, 960H neutral salt spray test, aging test in 1008H125℃ environment, cold and hot shock at -40℃~125℃, etc. Bath HV2000 Plastic Connector With the rapid charging and overcharge of electric vehicles, all new energy vehicle companies are constantly upgrading their vehicle voltage platforms. In 2022, it will be the first year of upgrading from 400v to 800v high-voltage platforms. However, the new challenges brought to high-voltage connectors are still concentrated on the electrical level. Can the rated voltage and current be improved? And how to deal with the high-temperature hidden trouble caused by high-power current? The fifth generation high voltage connector is likely to combine with liquid cooling technology to meet the requirements of electricity and temperature.

New energy vehicles can be divided into new energy passenger cars and new energy commercial vehicles according to their uses.

According to the data of China Automobile Association, from January to September this year, the cumulative sales of new energy passenger cars reached 4.363 million, an increase of 111.5% over the same period of last year; The cumulative sales of new energy commercial vehicles reached 204,000, up 80.1% year-on-year. New energy passenger cars and commercial vehicles are driving the market of high-voltage connectors to expand. In the field of low-voltage connectors, due to the time gap of automobile manufacturing, the technical patents are in the hands of foreign automobile companies early, and the market gap between domestic and foreign low-voltage connectors is significant. If the short board of China's vehicle-mounted connector is a low-voltage connector, then the long board is at the other end of the high-voltage connector. This is due to the rapid development of China's new energy vehicles. Domestic and foreign car companies go hand in hand, even surpassing and leading beautifully. Zhou Zhenfang, general manager of Lingyue Optoelectronics, said that in the field of new energy commercial vehicles, the localization rate of high-voltage connectors has reached nearly 100%, and the technology level has also surpassed that of foreign countries. High-voltage connectors used in new energy commercial vehicles in China adopt integrated panels, which have been developed for many generations, while foreign similar products still retain the traditional lock structure. As a domestic new energy commercial vehicle connector head enterprise, Lingyue Optoelectronics is quite optimistic about domestic high-voltage connector products. At the same time, China's new energy passenger car high-voltage connectors are also increasing the domestic penetration rate. At present, China's large enterprises that lay out high-voltage connectors for passenger cars include Ricketta, AVIC Optoelectronics, Basba, Yonggui Electric, Shunke Intelligent, etc. Buss revealed that the localization rate of high-voltage connectors for passenger cars has exceeded 60%. In addition to the localization rate, high-voltage connectors are far superior to low-voltage connectors in terms of value. As the capacity of battery pack of new energy commercial vehicle is several times that of passenger car, correspondingly, the value of high-voltage connector of commercial vehicle is higher than that of passenger car.

Xu Liming, an engineer of Shenzhen BYD Auto Co., Ltd., said in an interview that at present, about 15 pairs of high-voltage connectors will be used in the bicycle of BYD's new energy vehicles. According to the forecast of the Federation, the sales volume of new energy passenger cars and commercial vehicles in China will be 6.15 million and 350,000 respectively in 2022. For the time being, 15 pairs of connectors will be used as the standard of bicycle usage. Optimistically, the market size of high-voltage connectors in China will reach about 8.43 billion yuan in 2022 in the field of passenger cars, the market size of high-voltage connectors will reach 7.38 billion yuan; In the field of commercial vehicles, the market size of high-voltage connectors is 1.05 billion yuan. (Note: The actual market size of commercial vehicle high-voltage connectors may be larger, and this calculation takes 15 pairs of usage as the calculation standard.) On this basis, it can be estimated that the market size of high-voltage connectors in China will be about 2.582 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2022 (October-December). High-voltage connector products are expected to boost the performance of connector manufacturers at the end of the year. It is reported that the revenue of Basba high-voltage connector products has doubled in the first three quarters.

The technical orientation of super-charging and fast-charging for new energy vehicles also affects on-board connectors. With the increasing capacity of the battery, the vehicle body becomes heavier and heavier, and the amount of connectors and harnesses is increasing. Therefore, the modularization of parts becomes more and more important.

Zhou Zhenfang, general manager of Lingyue Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., said that modularization of high-voltage connectors has many benefits. "Multi-functional integration and modularization can better meet the safety requirements of the whole vehicle. Lightweight, convenient installation, lower cost, improved aesthetics, etc. These are the benefits of modularization and integration. " Leading the integrated application of optoelectronic connectors for the development trend of high-voltage connectors, Xu Ping 'an, chief technology officer of Basba, also emphasized modularity and light weight. In addition, Xu Ping 'an said that the electromagnetic compatibility and volume-to-current ratio of high-voltage connectors and harness assemblies in China also need to be continuously improved. The R&D certification of car-grade connectors is different from other types of connectors. For the sake of safety, reliability and durability, the total cycle of product certification plus customer certification is longer. It is reported that BYD, the automobile terminal, has a certification period of about 3 months to half a year for vehicle connectors developed by suppliers. For connector suppliers, it is necessary to continuously increase R&D investment, speed up R&D, improve product integration, and launch new products suitable for the requirements of over-charging and fast charging of automobiles as soon as possible to seize market share. Conclusion: High-voltage connectors and new energy vehicles are a "community of destiny". Taking advantage of the wind of new energy vehicles, the high-voltage connector market is soaring.