Wire harnesses for new energy vehicles

In the past, people paid relatively little attention to the wire harness industry. However, during the participation in several wire harness and connector projects recently, the author found that its revenue growth rate, profit scale, and profit margin were all far beyond expectations. Therefore, this article will briefly sort out the basic situation of the wire harness industry.

I. Basic Introduction

Automotive wire harnesses, as the core network main body of automotive electronic circuits, are a key component of the automotive electronic system and play an important role similar to that of blood vessels and nerves.

They are mainly composed of three major parts: electric wires and cables, wrapping materials, and connectors (terminals). Specifically, wire harnesses are formed by crimping connectors with electric wires and cables, then processing them by means of plastic-insulating or adding external metal shells, and finally bundling them to form connection circuit components. Their core function is to ensure that electronic components can achieve stable and reliable electrical connections throughout their service life, thus guaranteeing the normal operation of electronic and electrical equipment in all parts of the vehicle.

II. Classification of Wire Harnesses

Automotive wire harnesses are rich in variety and can usually be classified in many different ways according to transmission functions, voltage ranges, application locations, and so on. Currently, the market's attention is mainly focused on high-voltage and high-speed wire harnesses.

III. Performance Requirements

Due to the extremely complex working and operating environment of automotive wire harnesses, in addition to possessing certain basic performance, they also need to have a variety of special characteristics to adapt to different working scenarios. For example, engine wire harnesses and engine compartment wire harnesses need to work stably in high-temperature environments; chassis wire harnesses must maintain normal operation under the harsh conditions of dust, water, and mud immersion; door wire harnesses need to have good flexibility to adapt to the long-term repeated stretching and connection requirements; and power wire harnesses must be able to bear the long-term full-load or overload operation of high-power devices. These wire harnesses travel through various harsh environments such as the high-temperature and high-humidity southern coastal areas and the frigid northeastern regions along with the vehicles, and at the same time, they have to withstand the severe tests of electrical thermal loads, erosion by engine oil and gasoline, as well as bumping and vibration.

In practical applications, the common characteristic requirements mainly include the following four categories:

Heat Resistance: It is necessary to select electric wires with different temperature-resistant grades according to the specific working environment temperature. For wire harnesses that span multiple working temperature environments, their temperature-resistant grades must simultaneously meet the temperature requirements of all the involved regions to ensure that the wire harnesses can work safely and reliably under various temperature conditions.

Wear Resistance: Conductors should have good wear resistance to effectively prevent insulator damage in the wiring parts caused by long-term wear, thereby avoiding potential safety hazards such as electric leakage and ensuring the insulation performance and service life of the wire harnesses.

Flame Retardancy: When wire harnesses encounter fire sources, they must be able to effectively control the burning time and range within a certain safe range to avoid the spread of fire, thereby minimizing the fire risk and ensuring the safety of the vehicle and passengers.

Bending Resistance: For parts with bending requirements, they need to have good repeated bending properties to adapt to the frequent activities and deformations of various parts of the vehicle during operation, ensuring that the wire harnesses will not break or be damaged due to repeated bending during long-term use.

In addition, in terms of various certification standards, there are mainly GB/T 28046 (environmental adaptability), GB/Z17625 and GB/T17626 (EMC), ISO 16949, etc. These certifications are of vital importance to the wire harness industry and are important bases for measuring the quality and performance of wire harness products.

IV. Composition of Wire Harnesses

Automotive wire harnesses are complex systems composed of multiple components, mainly including cables, connectors, tapes, buckles, protective sleeves, and various brackets. Their upstream raw materials mainly cover copper materials, rubber, plastics, etc. Among them, the material cost accounts for the highest proportion in the total cost, followed by labor cost. In terms of the manufacturing process, wire harness manufacturing mainly includes four key links: wire cutting, crimping, pre-assembly, and final assembly. Currently, the wire harness processing industry still belongs to a labor-intensive industry, with a relatively high demand for manpower in the later processes, and the overall automation rate of the industry is relatively low.

Cables: As the most important component of automotive wire harnesses, cables can be divided into two major categories: conventional cables and special cables. Conventional cables mainly include PVC low-voltage cables and cross-linked high-temperature cables, while special cables such as silicone rubber cables and charging cables are mainly applied in the field of new energy vehicles to meet their special performance requirements.

Wrapping Materials: Due to the large differences in the layout environment of wire harnesses in various parts of the vehicle body, wrapping materials play a crucial role in protecting vehicle wire harnesses. Common wrapping materials include bellows, fabric-based tapes, flannel tapes, PVC sleeves, sponge strips, etc. These materials can provide good protection for wire harnesses and make them free from the influence and damage of external environmental factors.

Connectors: Connectors are composed of shells, fixing frames, seals, terminals, etc., and are divided into male connectors and female connectors. The rationality of connector design and manufacturing quality are directly related to the reliability and safety of wire harnesses. High-quality connectors can ensure the stability of wire harness connections and the accuracy of signal transmission.

V. Industry Status and Prospects

Market Scale: According to the prediction of the Research Institute of China Merchants Securities, by 2026, the global automotive wire harness market scale is expected to reach 376.3 billion yuan. Among them, the market scales of ordinary low-voltage wire harnesses, high-voltage wire harnesses, and high-speed wire harnesses are expected to be 257 billion yuan, 67.6 billion yuan, and 51.8 billion yuan respectively.

Value per Vehicle: In terms of the value per vehicle, the value of a low-voltage wire harness per vehicle is about 2,000 - 3,000 yuan, which can cover all parts of the vehicle; the average selling price (ASP) of a high-voltage wire harness for the whole vehicle is expected to be about 2,000 - 3,500 yuan, and the value proportion of high-voltage connectors is more than 55%; the ASP of a high-speed wire harness for the whole vehicle is expected to range from several hundred to over a thousand yuan, and with the continuous improvement of vehicle intelligence, its value will further increase, and the value proportion of high-speed connectors is more than 65%.

Competition Pattern: Currently, the global automotive wire harness and connector markets are mainly monopolized by overseas manufacturers, such as Sumitomo Electric, Yazaki, Aptiv, Leoni, Samvardhana Motherson Group, Lear, etc. These enterprises have long occupied a leading position in the industry by virtue of their technological advantages and rich market experience.

Prospect Trends:

Electrification Trend: With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, their battery, motor, electronic control and other systems have put forward higher requirements for the performance of high-voltage wire harnesses, such as high temperature resistance, high voltage resistance, anti-interference and other characteristics. This has led to a continuous increase in the market demand for high-voltage wire harnesses, and it is expected that its market scale will continue to maintain a growth trend.

Intelligence Trend: The increasing popularity of intelligent vehicles has put forward more stringent requirements for the speed and quality of in-vehicle data transmission. The continuous development of advanced functions such as autonomous driving, intelligent cockpit, and vehicle networking urgently requires higher-speed wire harnesses and connectors to support the real-time transmission of a large amount of data. For example, FAKRA, HSD, Ethernet wire harnesses, etc. will have broader application prospects.

Lightweight Trend: In order to effectively improve the endurance mileage of new energy vehicles, reducing the vehicle body weight has become one of the key factors. The wire harness industry is also actively seeking lightweight solutions. For example, replacing traditional copper wire harnesses with aluminum wire harnesses can not only significantly reduce the vehicle weight but also lower the production cost, which has become an important development direction for new energy vehicle wire harnesses.

Technology Upgrade: The wire harness industry is actively promoting technology upgrades, including continuously exploring and applying new materials, continuously improving manufacturing processes, and gradually realizing automated and intelligent production, so as to comprehensively improve production efficiency and product quality and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises.

Domestic Substitution: In recent years, with the gradual improvement of the technological strength of domestic wire harness manufacturers and the continuous manifestation of cost advantages, the trend of domestic substitution for imports has become increasingly obvious. Domestic wire harness manufacturers are expected to seize the opportunity to enter the supply chain systems of more well-known domestic and foreign automobile brands and break the monopoly situation of overseas manufacturers.

Environmental Adaptability: The application environment of automobiles is becoming increasingly diversified, which requires wire harnesses to have better temperature resistance, humidity resistance, chemical corrosion resistance and other characteristics to ensure stable and reliable operation under various complex environmental conditions and meet the usage requirements of different users.

Safety and Reliability: Safety and reliability have always been the core concerns in the development of the wire harness industry. Future wire harness products need to meet higher safety standards and stricter quality control requirements to ensure the overall safety and reliability of automobiles and provide passengers with a safer and more comfortable travel environment.

In addition, the improvement of EE architecture and the introduction of FPC and structural cables will also bring many new upgrades and changes to the wire harness industry.