USCAR, the United States Council for Automotive Research – a consortium of GM, Ford and Chrysler, has just issued a new standard for high voltage wiring and connectors in hybrid and electric cars. The existing standards only covered conventional systems up to 20V. The new standard covers systems operating up to 600V. The advantage of establishing industry standards is that suppliers can tool up common components that can be used by a variety of automakers and applications. This will help drive down the cost of these systems especially as production volumes for hybrids and EVs get ramped up over the next few years.
Until now, every automaker has specified unique connections for its high voltage wiring. This necessitates tooling and significant testing for each one of these designs. Because environmental sealing and safety from electrocution are critical, the ability to test once and have confidence is paramount. The press release is after the jump.
[Source: USCAR]
Continue reading USCAR issues new standards for high voltage wiring for hybrids/EVs
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid
USCAR issues new standards for high voltage wiring for hybrids/EVs originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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