#1: Improving EV Safety
Vehicle manufacturers are consistently looking for ways to improve the overall safety of EVs. One of the biggest risks to safety is the batteries that keep these systems running and operational. Adhesives are helping. One of these automotive innovations includes the use of adhesive bonding, which aids in crash durability. It works to maintain the battery’s temperature to reduce the risk of electrocution or fire while maintaining its thermal conductivity.
#2: Increasing Body Strength
Electric vehicle design is much different than combustion engines in terms of the body’s design. They are far more lightweight and designed using extruded aluminum to create the vehicle’s body. To increase the overall strength and durability of the body, EV manufacturers are using structural adhesives.
#3: Thermal Management Improvement
Thermal management of the battery pack is perhaps one of the most important and challenging of all aspects of EV design as they must operate between 15 and 50 degrees Celsius whenever it is charging or in operation. Highly specialized adhesives designed to be thermally conductive are being used to minimize battery temperatures moving outside of that range, aiding not only in creating a safe operational level but also improving the electric vehicle’s range. These products work to transfer or extract heat, depending on the needs within the EV engine bay.
#4: Reducing Costs
A look at all of the advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles often comes down to finding a way to reduce costs. In their current design, the batteries alone make up nearly a third of the overall cost of the EV. By working to improve the battery pack’s function overall, automotive adhesives are also working to reduce the cost of both material production and vehicle assembly. These technologies are helping manufacturers to need fewer components thanks to the use of both thermally conductive and structural adhesives. This really is the future of EVs.
#5: Improved Driving Performance
Throughout the history of electric vehicles, one of the core concerns for consumer adoption is ensuring the driving performance of these vehicles matches or exceeds expectations. One of the ways structural automotive adhesives work is by creating a lower center of gravity thanks to the positioning of the battery pack as the floor of the passenger area. These battery packs, bonded with properly selected adhesives, help to boost the driving experience, improving vehicle performance.
#6: Reducing Noise
Another aspect of improving consumer perception of the EV driving experience is reducing acoustic sounds, such as the number of squeaks and vibrations that pass through the vehicle. When structural adhesives are used, they replace many of the components that cause these types of sounds, such as mechanical fasteners and welds. Those materials are hard metal that rattles against other components, creating the noise. With adhesives, EVs run quieter.
#7: Innovative Bonding Solutions
In electric vehicle design, it is often necessary to bond dissimilar materials and still create a highly secure and reliable bond. While in combustion engines, a main component of the design continues to be metal, that’s changing in EVs. There are now more composite materials, plastics, and others used, and each must be able to bond effectively with the other. With the use of bonding adhesives designed for such tasks, it’s possible to create high-strength holds with plastics, composites, carbon fire, glass, aluminum, and steel. In this way, adhesives are helping to support automotive innovation.
#8: Creating Sustainability
EVs can be sustainable transportation, and that’s core to EVs competing. Manufacturers continue to work to achieve this by finding ways to affordably and sustainably mass produce these vehicles while ensuring they have a long lifespan. Structural adhesives help with this process by keeping the vehicles as lightweight as possible. The lighter the vehicle is, the less fuel it uses and the longer its EV range. More so, these adhesives offer VOC-free adhesive designs to further reduce carbon footprints.
Learn More About the Use of Automotive Adhesives in EVs
The future of the automotive industry relies on the production of highly affordable, reliable, safe, and sustainable electric vehicles. To learn more about how our automotive adhesives are making that possible, contact LINTEC Automotive today.
