High Voltage Connector for Battery Management System

In the development of next-generation EVs, makers put emphasis on improving the performance and the driving distance on a single charge. Consequently, batteries constituting a key device are required to have higher capacity, which results in longer charge times. To compensate this, increasing the charging voltage is a significant factor. Therefore, EV manufacturers and battery-related companies are making every effort to develop the technologies closely related to next-generation EVs.

A battery pack installed in an EV consists of various units such as a battery module in which multiple battery cells are bundled together, a battery monitoring unit (BMU), and a battery control unit (BCU). Various connectors are used for joining these units together.Particularly, the BCU connector needs to be compatible with high voltages for monitoring of the voltage of a battery pack. Furthermore, the support of high voltages such as 800 V 1,000 V is required for next-generation EVs.Japan Aviation Electronics Industry (JAE) was quick to respond to these needs and developed the MY05 series of 1,000V high-voltage, low-current connectors for EV BMS.

When developing low voltage connector systems, Engineers have always considered factors such as contact resistance and dielectric insulation between terminals, but high voltage connectors call for additional, careful considerations. At high voltages, factors such as creepage and clearance distances come into play. Conditions such as operating voltage, the environment and the type of materials used means that terminal separation calculations are vital. The IEC specification provides a basis of these calculations and unless carefully followed, high voltages and short insulation distances can lead to short circuits and other problems.With the absence of suitable connector solutions in the market, connecting EV battery packs to BCU has been challenging and led to the use of far less than satisfactory solutions being adopted. For example, by using high-voltage connectors from industrial machinery or home appliances being used with pins removed. Alternatively, by using existing low-voltage connectors, but to meet the creepage and clearance distance requirements, some terminal cavities have remained empty. An extremely inefficient solution from the geometric size viewpoint. For high-voltage connectors, such as those for industrial machinery and home appliances, the maximum voltage remains limited and suited to 600V battery packs.For some time, there has been a market gap for automotive connectors that offer both full compliance with the IEC requirements and genuine suitability for harsher automotive environments & specifications. For this reason JAE developed MY05, a connectors series compatible of the 800V - 1,000V specifications necessary for the future EV market. The new design addressed the realization of high-voltage compatibility coupled with miniaturization.In the development of this series, JAE adopted a structure with separation ribs between the terminals for the purpose of reducing the size of the product while ensuring the insulation distance between the terminals. The result is a product that not only addresses miniaturization, but fully conforms to the creepage & clearances distance requirement defined within the IEC design standard.

JAE has been offers a wide range of connectors for EV battery packs. In addition to high-voltage connectors for BMS, it has commercialized connectors for the cell module connection and the BMU connection.It can meet customer needs with the product lineup having low profile, lightweight, and wide range of pin counts.

Subject to change without notice. Errors and omission excepted.