TE Connectivity develops highly engineered electrical, data, and sensing solutions that power electric vehicles, aircraft, digital factories, and smart homes. By partnering with its customers, TE’s products and services help to make a more connected world possible. TE is seeking applications for its “Power Up with E-mobility” Startup Challenge to find innovative solutions and also help them scale up.
In this context, TE invites startups, small businesses, university research teams & spin-offs from all over the world working on the next generation of connectivity and sensor technologies to apply and scale your E-mobility solution. Since the beginning, TE Connectivity has been one of the leading players in mobility electrification working with almost every automotive OEM and tier-one supplier worldwide.
Why join TE’s “Power Up with E-mobility” Challenge?
Six Finalists will be invited to an exclusive internal pitching event where you will get the opportunity to interact with TE experts in engineering, product management leadership, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Besides the cash prize, TE offers the following benefits to all six finalists:
- Cash Prize: USD 30,000 for one final winner – equity-free & no strings attached.
- Expert Exposure: The six finalists will get to closely interact with senior TE leaders from its business, engineering, strategy, and M&A teams.
- Collaboration & Network: TE will host an intimate collaboration in a two-day session with TE Engineering for the six finalists.
- Expert Access: Gain access to TE’s experts, products, tools, data, and customers, as well as automotive and transportation industry requirements.
- Global Publicity: A public press announcement of the six finalists and the winner across TE’s communication channels.
- Potential Pilot Project: Finally, TE may provide the six finalists with the opportunity to collaborate in a proof of concept (PoC) or Pilot Project.
Discover What’s Next for E-Mobility at TE Connectivity
Qiong Son, Global VP of TE’s E-Mobility business
We spoke to Qiong Son, global Vice President of TE’s Automotive E-mobility business, where she oversees the product portfolio, technology strategy, and future solutions for automotive E-mobility. Read on to discover what’s next for TE’s E-mobility future.
In your opinion, what makes the future so exciting for electric mobility?
Electric vehicles are no longer a niche option for early adopters — they’re the future of mobility. EVs are already one of the fastest-growing segments in the automobile market, with worldwide sales doubling in 2021. That rapid growth rate is likely to continue as governments and auto manufacturers set ambitious targets to have EVs make up 40%, 50%, or even 100% of new car sales within the next 10 to 15 years.
TE Connectivity has spent more than two decades collaborating with automotive manufacturers to create electrical components uniquely suited for the demands of the evolving EV market. While each manufacturer’s EV designs are unique, we’ve developed an approach that allows us to deliver customized EV solutions where needed, while still pursuing the industry-wide goals for higher performance and lower costs to help the EV market reach its full potential.
One of the significant challenges preventing the higher adoption of e-mobility solutions is EV charging capabilities. How is TE tackling this challenge?
The challenge for EV designers is ensuring that their vehicles can handle the challenges of ultrafast charging. Every component — from the charging inlet to the connectors, wiring, and battery contactors — must be designed to manage the higher temperatures that come with high-voltage fast charging.
TE’s engineers have launched a high-performance charging inlet capable of carrying 350 kilowatts of electricity at 500 amps. We are now working on an ultra-high-power DC charging inlet capable of delivering 640-kilowatt power, which will charge a battery for a 200-mile drive in about 10 minutes.
For example, TE’s new TENDUR surface plating technology for EV charging inlets uses an innovative combination of silver and graphite, delivering strong electrical conductivity performance with lubrication from its embedded graphite particles. This state-of-the-art contact plating provides superior abrasion resistance and delivers continuous high-performance charging throughout the vehicle’s lifetime.
What’s more, TENDUR was recently recognized as a finalist for the 2022 PACE Innovation Award from Automotive News. I was delighted to accept our recognition plaque on behalf of TE Connectivity and all of our engineers.
Staying with charging & charging infrastructure, energy storage – particularly batteries – still struggle to perform and last at the level of consumers’ expectations. What does TE have in its pipeline to overcome this bottleneck?
Battery longevity depends on several subsystems and components within the vehicle. To support a longer lifespan, a battery must safely switch on and off during normal vehicle operational modes and be protected against abnormal conditions that can damage it.
TE’s high-voltage contactors are an essential piece of this safety system, providing a way to switch between batteries or shut the battery down entirely in the case of a short circuit or excessive current load. In addition, pairing these contactors with low-resistance terminations to avoid power losses and a battery management system to prevent the battery pack from overheating can help keep batteries operational for the vehicle’s life.
Finally, what are TE’s main priorities and/or focus areas for strengthening and building the future of electric mobility?
As EV manufacturers race to develop more powerful, efficient vehicles, they must remain focused on another major consideration for EV drivers: environmental sustainability. TE is playing its part in this effort with innovations such as our GreenSilver contact surface technology for high-voltage EV connectors.
By selectively applying silver to limited areas of the connection surface, GreenSilver uses less precious metal than traditional connectors, while still delivering the same electrical performance and enhanced vibration and heat tolerance needed for EV powertrains. In addition, the proprietary, non-galvanic dry plating process does not use any hazardous materials and achieves a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 99% reduction in freshwater consumption during production.
TE is committed to helping manufacturers deliver the advancements in performance, efficiency, and reliability needed to fully realize the age of the electric vehicle.
Ready to scale your business with TE? Click here to apply for “Power Up with E-mobility”
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