New energy vehicles are the direction of development of the automotive industry and help to save energy and reduce emissions and upgrade the industry. And the car charging station is equivalent to a petrol dispenser in a petrol station, which can be fixed to the ground or wall and installed in public buildings (public buildings, shopping malls, public car parks, etc.) and residential community car parks or charging stations.
As an important part of advanced polymer materials, modified plastic materials have been widely used in the fields of home appliances, automobiles, electronics and electrical appliances.
For the automotive charging pile facility industry, some companies have conducted sufficient research. According to the usage conditions of the charging pile, the mechanical properties, heat and low temperature resistance, weathering resistance, flame retardancy and electrical insulation of the plastic materials must be assessed to determine whether they are capable of long-term service. In addition, the charging pile materials must also meet the requirements of electromagnetic compatibility and signal shielding.
01 Charging pile shell
The charging pile shell is a protective and decorative part of the charging pile, which needs to be protected from collision damage and adapted to the long-term outdoor complex working environment. Therefore, the performance requirements of the material are: excellent impact resistance, good flame retardancy and weather resistance, good electrical insulation, good surface quality and chemical resistance.
Combining the various requirements, suitable materials for the housing of charging posts are: halogen-free flame retardant polycarbonate (PC), PC alloy materials, SMC composites, etc., while combining no-paint technology to meet the exterior colour requirements of charging posts.
Bayer MaterialScience has developed a PC material for charging piles that maintains excellent impact properties at -40°C and is flame retardant to meet the long-term high-current operation of charging piles.
02 Charging guns and connection systems
The charging gun assembly consists of the charging gun housing and the connection head.
The charging gun is directly connected to the vehicle and the charging post during use and is also closely related to the safety of the user. The housing must therefore have good flame retardancy, electrical insulation, weather resistance, etc. It also needs good surface workmanship and skin texture to ensure that it is comfortable to use when in direct contact with people, as well as good rigidity and toughness to avoid damage caused by drops and vehicles running over it. Materials can start with halogen-free flame retardant and weather resistant PC and its alloys.
The charging gun connector, which includes the socket and plug, is directly connected to the wire and requires excellent electrical insulation, flame retardant and heat resistant properties, as well as excellent mechanical properties to meet the long-term plugging and unplugging life requirements. Halogen-free flame retardant reinforced nylon (PA) is recommended.
Polycarbonate plugs and sockets made from PET and PA66
03 Cable assemblies
The charging pile cable is the cable that connects the charging pile to the charging gun and needs to be resistant to pulling, low temperature, light and automotive oils, as well as to avoid electromagnetic signal interference with the charging pile and to have excellent ageing and bending resistance.
The main materials currently used for charging post cables are thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), polyurethane (TPU), polyvinyl chloride/nitrile rubber (PVC/NBR), etc.
The inner sheath of the cable can use halogen-free flame retardant TPE and TPU, and the outer sheath of the cable can use PVC, halogen-free flame retardant elastomer, etc.
04 Other component materials
Other component materials such as power module housings, internal circuit control materials, cooling fans, etc. can be used in reference to commonly used material applications in the power supply system and low-voltage electrical industry, and can be made of halogen-free flame retardant reinforced PA or PBT materials. For cooling fans, flame retardant reinforced PBT or PPE materials, which are widely used in the IT industry, are recommended.
As the infrastructure for new energy electric vehicles, the charging pillar industry ushers in a broad space for development under national planning and policy support, polymer materials in the charging pillar application research is very important, the development of high-performance, low-cost, safe insulation materials suitable for new energy vehicle charging pile is the market development trend.
Luoyang Grasen Power Technology Co., Ltd is a professional AC home charger and DC fast charger EV supercharger manufacturer for 11 years in China, the charging connectors can be any two of CCS1/CCS2/CHAdeMO/GBT. Please enter our website for more information: https://www.grasen.com. Please send email to sales@grasen.com for inquiry.
-- Marcus Groll，A Charging Station Owner in UKRAINE
Start your EV charging station businesses with Grasen. For a no-obligation quote, hit the button below, fill in your details, and we’ll get back to you.
