Zircotec has introduced a new range of ceramic coatings that allow electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers to replace steel battery enclosures and cooling plates with lighter aluminium or composite materials while maintaining safety, thermal management, and electrical insulation. The company is exhibiting at the Cenex Expo 2025 this week.
Cooling plate and battery enclosure.
The coatings were developed through the partly government-funded CeraBEV (Ceramics for BEVs) project, a consortium led by Zircotec with Cranfield University as a key partner and supported by the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC).
The project focused on accelerating UK capability in safe battery energy storage technologies.
Developed by Zircotec’s engineering team in Oxfordshire, the new ‘ElectroHold’ coatings integrate dielectric, flameproofing, and thermal properties into a single system. This enables OEMs to apply lighter materials in battery enclosures and cooling plates by combining thin electrical insulation with enhanced thermal conductivity. The result is greater design flexibility, reduced weight, and the potential to extend vehicle range.
The coatings underwent extensive testing with Cranfield University, HORIBA MIRA, BeonD, and the Royal Institute in Sheffield. In a full-scale simulated UL2596 Method A thermal runaway test, a carbon-fibre battery enclosure treated with the coating maintained structural integrity, prevented flame egress, and continued to provide electrical isolation after deliberate cell failure.
Additional trials on cooling plate coatings demonstrated a four-fold increase in dielectric strength compared with a previous iteration, alongside proven resistance to mechanical stress, corrosion, chemical attack, and temperature extremes.
Zircotec’s proprietary coatings are designed for high-performance and mass-market applications and are now ready for OEM integration.
Filed Under: Batteries, Technology News, Thermal Management