Navigating E-mobility and Auto-Tech

Can you give us a brief background about your roles in the organisations you have worked for? How does the experience augment your role and responsibility at your current organisation?

My background is as an electronics engineer. In 1999, I started my career at TE Connectivity in Belgium, working on coaxial connectors for telecom equipment as an RF simulation and test engineer.

My role gradually expanded toward high data rate backplane connector development for data centres and system-level simulations and antenna development for consumer products.

In 2011, I transitioned to the automotive industry to lead inductive coils system development for braking modules and rotary position sensors for e-motors. From there, I moved on to E-mobility engineering, working on HV connectors, charging inlets, and battery connectivity. This expanded to my current role of leading TE’s global engineering E-mobility team as chief technology officer (CTO).

Being an engineer first has given me a very deep understanding of the engineering function in all its aspects. Additionally, working with various products and in different business units has exposed me to various technologies and prepared me to manage complex multi-disciplinary E-mobility projects globally. It has also exposed me to different industry cadences when considering the times in the mobile phone antenna development space.

Having extensive experience in the field of auto-tech, how would you describe the development of e-mobility to this day?

Today’s E-mobility industry is both exciting and purposeful. It is exciting because of the numerous technological developments and purposeful since it strongly drives toward a more sustainable world.

The first electric cars were built as early as 1830 before any internal combustion engine (ICE) car was developed. Since that time almost 200 years ago, it has been a journey to the EVs of today with multiple attempts and failures.

The revival started over a decade ago when governments introduced strong regulations on maximum car fleet carbon emissions. At about the same time, Tesla brought the Model S to the market.

This marked the start of a new era of electrification, strongly driven by government incentives and regulations. Suddenly, EVs could be both fun and attractive, have superior performance, provide the manufacturer with a competitive advantage, and all at the same time be environmentally friendly. 

Finally, there was an incentive to be an EV owner in terms of reduced fuel cost and improved driver experience. Today, it’s safe to say we have passed the tipping point. The transition to EVs is here to stay, and the future will be all-electric.

What are the key challenges that you face in the automotive industry?

Today, the automotive industry is in full transition, moving away from ICE toward EVs in only a few car platform generations. In the grand scheme of things, this is a fast transition and challenges every part of the business. The industry's known orthodoxies need rethinking, and every stakeholder should be involved in the process.

"Today, as the industry is transitioning, flexibility, adaptability, and readiness for continuous disruption are a requirement."

From an engineering perspective, going back to the core engineering principles without the ability to rely on decades of common industry experience means getting out of your comfort zone. This makes the transition exciting but also challenging.

Change of pace is also a major factor as teams need to adapt to this change of speed. Initially, developments and innovation happened inside smaller teams operating in a start-up mentality. As the industry is transitioning, flexibility, adaptability, and readiness for continuous disruption are required.

One example is the recent announcement from major OEMs around the globe to implement the Tesla charging interface called NACS in North America. Overnight, teams needed to adapt by studying the implementation in already running vehicle platform designs and considering different volumes and investment scenarios. It is a perfect example of the current environment in the industry: fast-paced and ever-changing.

At TE, we are on the supplier side and can see how OEMs manage disruptions. This results in different strategies, interpretations, and, ultimately, different technical requirements on the component level – even for the same application.

Then come customer-specific variations that can have an impact on overall costs. To decrease costs and take advantage of increasing scale, the challenging step becomes developing platform solutions that span multiple implementation scenarios and offer adequate flexibility. I believe converging on technology and requirement standards across the industry would aid this process.

What are some emerging technologies that are promoting the next generation of efficient e-mobility?

Since the very beginning of battery-electric vehicles, there have been three main challenges: vehicle range, the time it takes to charge, and the overall cost of the vehicle.

Today, developments in battery technology have improved reliability and energy density. It is easy to find an EV with a range of 500km and beyond, which is comfortable for most situations. On the charging side, ultra-fast DC charging technology up to 350kW is available, allowing a car to fully charge in about 15 minutes. What’s more, technology is in development to be able to charge a vehicle even faster. However, it is a bit complex. Not only does the car need to allow these charging rates, but the charging infrastructure also needs to be ready. The rollout of charging infrastructure and the surrounding ecosystem is still in development and is different in various parts of the world.

On the cost side, currently, it is nearly impossible to buy an EV at the same price as an ICE vehicle. Vehicle prices will need to come down further in order for higher levels of adoption to take place. Production volume increases, as well as further technology developments, platforming, and standardisation in the industry will help to drive this needed cost reduction.

However, as I mentioned above,  a key enabler to adoption will be ultra-fast charging – toward 600kW and beyond – and the deployment of the related infrastructure. Also, bi-directional charging, where the vehicle battery is part of your home or grid energy storage system, will drive more efficient green energy usage. The car is then part of the energy management ecosystem.

In terms of battery range, breakthrough technologies like solid-state cells will allow increased energy density and safety. From there, we can expect further size and weight reduction. On the system level, we already saw the introduction of 800V battery packs, further expected to increase to 1000V and beyond,  reducing thermal losses and increasing efficiency.

Finally, introducing new and sustainable recycling methods and using sustainable materials in general will become especially important.

As an ending note, what is your advice for other senior leaders and CXOs working in the auto-tech industry?

As the journey to full carbon neutrality continues, it is safe to expect the change of pace and transformations in the auto industry to continue. Therefore, it is essential to have a mindset that embraces this reality. At TE, we are committed to creating a safer, more sustainable, productive, and connected world. As we are developing connectivity solutions, especially for EVs, we are constantly working to ensure we maximise the reduction of our carbon footprint. Additionally, we are committed to driving full inclusion and diversity in all our teams. In my opinion, this is a prerequisite to enabling innovation and staying ahead of the curve. Embracing a sustainable, diverse, and global mindset together will move our industry forward.