Whitepaper: Joining methods for EV battery pack applications

To accelerate time to market, the first generation of electric vehicle (EV) battery packs relied on established materials such as steel, aluminum and, to a lesser extent, thermosets. In creating next-generation designs, automakers seek improvements in overall battery performance in terms of energy density, CO₂ footprint, weight and system cost. Thermoplastic materials offer potential to address these goals. However, greater use of thermoplastics in EV battery packs poses technical challenges, particularly when joining different materials in a hybrid construction, such as a battery management control unit, cell contacting system or junction box. Heat staking is a preferred method for joining metal to plastic, joining two similar or dissimilar plastics or joining plastic with a printed circuit board (PCB) without the use of adhesives or fasteners. Heat staking applications are used in numerous industries and meet the highest quality requirements.