Ferrari and BMW are rolling out new models featuring lightweight, cost-effective aluminium wiring, accelerating a shift away from copper, the dominant material in electric wiring since the invention of the electric battery two centuries ago.
Ferrari and BMW are rolling out new models featuring lightweight, cost-effective aluminium wiring, accelerating a shift away from copper, the dominant material in electric wiring since the invention of the electric battery two centuries ago.
That’s crazy, with these high-voltage platforms they’d need some BEEFY cables- copper is something like 60% or so more conductive than aluminum, so you need a thicker aluminum wire for the same current capacity. That also makes it more difficult to work with, as a thicker cable will be less flexible and have a larger minimum bend radius.
I’d be curious to see how they’re designing terminations that are resistant to aluminum’s significant thermal expansion, too- that’s generally a huge fire risk as the wire works itself free/loosens from the termination through thermal cycling and starts sparking.
Copper clad aluminum is also an option, though not sure how it works with DC current. If I recall correctly, ac current travels on the skin so just a coating of copper is sufficient.
IIRC, the skin effect only occurs in AC and not DC, as the alternating current direction changes the magnetic fields and thereby causes eddie currents via Lens’ Law. These eddie currents push the current out towards the skin.
These systems tend to be DC afaik, at least until you hit the motor where it needs some rectification anyway, so I’m not sure that a copper-clad cable would really make a big difference.
Not an electrical expert, though.
The issue with copper clad when it comes to DC is voltage drop issues. But that’s just DC in a nutshell lol.
I’m guessing it’s mostly for their ICE vehicles, low voltage stuff.
The article specifically covers how aluminum wiring is being used by Ferrari and BMW in their hybrid and EV platforms.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up going back to their ICE stuff too, though.
Tesla is not known for their ICE vehicles though.