Securing the future for Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) assembly

How can EJOT fasteners help reduce weight and unlock higher potentials in EV Batteries?

EJOT UK’s Application Engineer, David Piddock, looks at how advanced fasteners can enable the manufacture of higher performing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), which are optimised for long term efficiency, weight minimisation and ease of manufacture.

Design & Considerations

The design of the Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) is one of the most important considerations in any EV project. By using advanced materials in its assembly that offer high strength without adding extra weight, it is possible to realise a host of benefits that may ultimately deliver cost savings and a better performing finished vehicle.

This is why the deployment of critical fastening technologies is so influential. Despite being amongst the smallest components used in an EV, fasteners play a major role because, with the right specification, they facilitate the joining of different thermoplastics and thin sheets. This gives EVB designers new possibilities that can directly contribute to the EV’s overall design and operational efficiency.

As a global leader in the design and manufacture of fastening systems for the automotive industry over several decades, EJOT can provide expert joining insights and products to help designers achieve the optimum fastener solution in EVB projects.

The EJOT team has developed a deep understanding of the challenges faced in all aspects of vehicle design. Crucially, our team recognises the additional considerations with battery assembly, largely in terms of ensuring it is as lightweight as possible to optimise performance and reduce energy consumption, while at the same time being designed for both water and air tightness and remaining fully serviceable.

Additional EVB design considerations come with the need for a mix of connected components that are conductive in some instances, while requiring isolating qualities for safety reasons in other areas. Cleanliness is a critical issue too, so any choice of fastener must consider the potential for contamination becoming present within the electric powertrain to avoid the risk of short-circuiting.

Through the range of advanced fastening systems for EVB assemblies available from EJOT, we can provide a dependable solution to meet all these goals and more, particularly in relation to using lightweight materials. Our fasteners helped pioneer the use of lightweight and thin sheet materials in the automotive industry and today the latest versions of these products and systems are helping EV manufacturers to unlock new potential.

One of the ways our fasteners are doing this is in relation to the housings needed for various components. For example, EJOT fasteners have enabled designers to shift away from using standard steel in motor housings to materials like aluminium and plastics, meeting the requirement to handle different temperature and tolerance demands.

Fastening Solutions for EVB

At the forefront of EVB assembly is the ALtracs Plus thread forming screw for aluminium. This self-tapping screw is helping to satisfy the increasing volume in this growth market area because of its suitability for lightweight construction. It has an optimised thread geometry that facilitates the use of smaller and shorter screws, but with consistently high strength values.

Through these design characteristics and their high quality, ALtracs Plus along with other EJOT fasteners including the Delta PT – a high load capacity screw for direct fastening into plastics – can contribute to greater reliability of installation equipment to maximise productivity. In addition, the innovative nature of many EJOT fasteners, in particular the EVO PT self-tapping screw for thermoplastics, means designers have the scope to reduce the number of parts needed in an EVB assembly, which in turn means simpler installation and potentially a cost reduction.

These product benefits mean the ultimate result of working with EJOT on an EVB assembly is a design that ticks all the boxes, ensuring high levels of productivity can be maintained in the factory for Takt times to be met more reliably.

In addition, EJOT’s dedication to continuous product development means we are finding new ways to apply fasteners to create high strength joints in plastics, composite materials, thin sheet metals and foams – materials which will be increasingly important as EV adoption and use increases.

That’s why we encourage EVB design teams to engage with EJOT at an early stage of new designs to explore how our range, including metal screws for plastics, plastic screws, friction-weld systems, plastic fasteners and removable fasteners, can realise potentially far-reaching benefits.

EJOT’s support extends to our specialist calculation software which we are able to give customers access to. Our prognosis programs for the calculation and dimensioning of fastening connections assists in the development process with the potential to save time and cost at the design stage.

What to know more? Read about the fasteners featured in this article:

• EVO PT - The self-tapping screw for plastics
• Delta PT – The high load capacity screw for direct fastening into plastics
• ALtracs Plus - The self-tapping screw for light metal