iON EV™ CLAD FOR HIGH POWER CHARGING CONNECTORS
Direct current (DC) fast chargers for electric vehicles are becoming more popular, with the total number in use expected to increase by five times by 2025. These high-speed chargers allow consumers to recharge their vehicle to near full in less than 30 minutes instead of several hours. While DC chargers offer consumer convenience, the heat and power they create requires high quality components that can withstand a harsh operating environment. Electroplated silver is a commonly used connector material in slower charging systems, but it doesn’t offer the material hardness needed to resist wear in rapid charge applications.
That’s why Materion created iON EV clad for electric vehicle charger connections. iON EV clad is a proprietary silver-based alloy that combines the reliable qualities of each metal to create a drop-in replacement for pure silver. This highly conductive clad material enhances the contact surface’s friction characteristics and enables it to withstand the high current environment of fast charge connectors.
BENEFITS OF ION EV CLAD FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
iON EV clad offers a number of benefits, including:
- Wear resistance: Increased wear resistance that exceeds 10,000 connection cycles because the low coefficient of friction of 0.20 can enable reduced insertion force by up to seven times.
- Improved performance: The grain structure of a clad contact layer slows down diffusion by up to ten times, providing stable performance at elevated temperatures over the life of the connector.
ION EV CLAD CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS
Our versatility with product configurations allows you to customize a solution that will maximize your product’s functionality. iON EV clad offers:
- A range of base material options that enables a high degree of design flexibility.
- Thicknesses from 7 - 40μm
- Base thicknesses from 0.10 – 2mm
- Ni-Clad diffusion barrier for high temperature and high performance applications
- Stainless steel backing for increased stiffness
Talk with our engineers to learn how iON EV clad can solve your wear resistance challenges.