Mixed Voltages and Aluminum Conductors: Assessing New Electrical Technologies

The architecture of vehicle electrical systems is changing rapidly. Electric and hybrid vehicles are driving mixed voltage systems, and cost pressures are making conductor materials like aluminum an increasingly viable competitor to copper.

The challenge of assessing the impact of these technologies on vehicle safety and of understanding cost/weight trade-offs is a critical design activity.

This session will discuss and demonstrate tradeoff studies at the vehicle level, show how to automatically generate an electrical Failure Mode Effects and Analysis (FMEA) report, and optimize wire sizes for both copper and aluminum at the platform level.