Electrified vehicle (EV) platforms are placing new demands on conductors, insulation systems, and wiring architectures. Weight, thermal performance, fatigue resistance, and supply resilience now factor directly into system-level efficiency and long-term reliability.
Dmitri Tsentalovich, PhD, Co-Founder and CTO at DexMat.
As power density increases and duty cycles intensify, conductor selection has become a strategic engineering decision rather than a simple material choice.
To explore how these factors are shaping wiring and harness design, Dmitri Tsentalovich, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at DexMat, shares his perspective on evolving conductor requirements, material tradeoffs, and the implications for next-generation EV platforms.
Tsentalovich leads material development and manufacturing scale-up at DexMat, with a focus on advancing high-performance conductive materials for demanding electrical applications.
Here’s what he has to say…
Where does conductor mass have the greatest impact on EV system performance, particularly in wiring and harness design
Conductor mass has an outsized impact on wiring harnesses and signal distribution, which have quietly become one of the heaviest subsystems in modern vehicles. In many EVs, wiring harnesses can weigh 60 to 80 kg, making them a major contributor to vehicle mass after the chassis and battery.
That weight is purely parasitic. It consumes energy without storing it. Reducing conductor mass directly supports range, and where cables are routed high in the vehicle (think roof liners, pillars, doors). It also affects center of gravity and handling. These are subtle effects individually, but they matter in aggregate when engineers are tuning performance.
How do thermal loads and heat dissipation requirements in EV wiring differ from conventional vehicles?
In internal combustion vehicles, wiring is mostly designed to survive external heat from the engine. In EVs, the challenge shifts inward. Heat is generated inside the conductor itself due to high current flow, especially during fast charging and aggressive drive cycles.
At 350-kW charging and above, localized thermal spikes become a real constraint. EV wiring needs materials that can tolerate repeated internal heating while maintaining mechanical integrity. The conductor is no longer just carrying current; it is often the primary heat source.
What tradeoffs do engineers consider when balancing conductivity, weight, and durability in EV wire and cable materials?
Carbon-based conductive fiber designed for use in lightweight conductor and shielding applications, supporting efforts to reduce wiring mass in electrified vehicle platforms.
Historically, engineers have balanced copper and aluminum. Copper offers conductivity and durability, but at a weight penalty. Aluminum reduces mass, but introduces challenges around fatigue resistance, corrosion, and long-term reliability.
As power density increases, engineers increasingly look at specific conductivity — conductivity relative to density — along with fatigue performance. This is where interest in carbon-based conductors has grown, particularly in applications involving flex, vibration, and repeated thermal cycling.
How does increasing power density in EV architectures change requirements for conductor and insulation materials?
Higher-voltage architectures allow for thinner conductors, but that introduces new stresses. Thinner conductors are more mechanically fragile, and insulation sees higher electric field stress. As a result, conductor materials must provide mechanical robustness
in addition to electrical performance. Insulation systems also need to withstand partial discharge and degradation over time, particularly in high-voltage and high-altitude operating conditions.
Which areas of an EV electrical system offer the greatest opportunity for lightweighting at the wire and cable level?
EMI shielding is one of the most immediate opportunities. Traditional metal braid shielding adds significant weight and stiffness. Replacing metal braid with lightweight, flexible conductive materials can reduce cable mass by 30 to 50% while maintaining shielding effectiveness.
High-voltage battery cables offer the largest theoretical mass savings per meter, but these applications place the highest demands on thermal and mechanical performance.
Today, most lightweight alternatives are evaluated first in shielding, signal wiring, and dynamic cable applications, where the integration path is more straightforward.
How are reliability and fatigue concerns evolving for conductors exposed to higher currents and repeated thermal cycling?
EV duty cycles are aggressive. Instant torque and fast charging create frequent temperature swings, which drive expansion and contraction in conductors. Stiffer metals can work-harden over time, especially in dynamic routing areas like door hinges or charging cables.
Engineers are increasingly focused on materials that maintain performance across millions of flex and thermal cycles, since long-term reliability is now a primary design constraint rather than an afterthought.
How does material availability and supply risk influence conductor selection for high-volume EV platforms?
Galvorn, a lightweight carbon-based conductive material, being evaluated for wire and cable applications that demand reduced mass, high durability, and sustained electrical performance.
Supply resilience has become a design consideration. Copper demand is rising quickly, and OEMs are looking to diversify their conductor portfolios to reduce exposure to volatility and supply concentration.
This has increased interest in alternative materials that rely on different feedstocks and production pathways.
Engineers want options that reduce dependence on a single material while still meeting performance and reliability requirements.
At what stage of vehicle development are alternative conductive materials typically evaluated or qualified?
Major conductor changes usually occur during early platform definition, several years before the start of production. However, drop-in solutions (such as alternative shielding or lightweight signal conductors) are increasingly evaluated during mid-cycle refreshes or targeted weight-reduction efforts.
These applications allow teams to gain confidence in new materials without redesigning entire architectures.
This Q&A reflects current engineering considerations across EV electrical systems and is intended to be educational. Specific materials and products are evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on application requirements, qualification pathways, and manufacturing readiness.
Filed Under: Componentry, Featured Contributions, Q&As