The Smarter Cities initiative makes connectivity part of the transportation infrastructure. For car commuters, drive time is a period of lost productivity. For those who use mass transit, however, those hours can become part of the workday, enabling employees to flex their schedules, check into meetings from offsite, and communicate with colleagues. All they needRead More

A network of sensors is constantly gathering information about performance, vehicle health, and other metrics in today’s high-performance autos. Paul Webb, Global Product Manager for Autosport, TE Connectivity On the road and on the racetrack, just knowing how fast you’re traveling is no longer enough. Your car generates a lot of data while on theRead More

Connectivity and autonomy in next-generation autos is creating lots of data that will be sent to data centers, fostering a new market for connector makers. The explosion of electronics in vehicles continues to drive solid growth in the market for connectors. Typically, we think of these as harsh-environment connectors that can meet the rigorous demandsRead More

Electric vehicles are increasingly familiar sights around town, but the charging infrastructure needs to catch up as countries around the world make plans to transition away from fuel-burning vehicles. By Caroline Hayes When pre-orders for Tesla’s Model S opened in March 2016, the public’s appetite for luxury electric vehicles was confirmed, as thousands of customersRead More

The next few years will bring an increasing number of electric cars onto the roads. But not everyone can charge at home. The next few years will bring an increasing number of electric cars onto the roads. But not everyone can charge at home. How are connector companies helping to develop the charging infrastructure neededRead More

Five Things to Consider When Selecting a Connector Supplier for Automotive Applications Burt Fisher, Applications Engineer, Advanced Interconnections Corp. 1. The Company – What’s Under the Hood Automotive design engineers rely on their suppliers’ specialization and expertise to keep pace with the increasingly demanding interconnect requirements needed to support data-driven systems in connected vehicles. So,Read More

Wireless Level 2 vehicle-charging stations are an ideal solution for fast-approaching driverless vehicle technologies. Randy Sumner, Director of Global Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Business and Technology Development, Delphi Automotive   The global race to be the first company to bring a fully autonomous vehicle to the marketplace depends on a number of both hardware andRead More

Today’s cars feature advanced safety, infotainment, navigation, and diagnostics capabilities. Tomorrow’s cars will require exponentially more electronics. Thomas Scannell, Automotive Lead, Amphenol ICC   The Connected Automobile As automobiles continue to evolve, designers are leaving yesterday’s basic vehicle technology behind, embracing today’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and preparing for tomorrow’s completely autonomous vehicle, whichRead More

Designers can use derating to capture the advantages of lighter-weight wires without sacrificing performance. By Michael Traskos, EWIS Designated Engineering Representative (DER) and President, Lectromec   By derating wire harnesses, designers can expand their options to choose materials that can perform in a greater range of applications and environments. The temperature rating of a wireRead More

The automotive world is continually increasing its data handling requirements, adding more electric vehicles to the fleet, and moving towards the impending reality of driverless cars. Connector Supplier discusses these trends and more with two experts from TTI‘s transportation business unit: Lee Iken, director, and Quang Luong, director of sales engineering.   Transportation Prepares for TransformationRead More

Safety-related features in automobiles are well-suited for press-fit systems By Sandra Gast, Product Manager at ept GmbH   Press-fit technology is an especially reliable partner for automotive applications, where temperature fluctuations, shock, vibrations, moisture, dust, and dirt play a major role. It can be used to create a simultaneous electrical and mechanical connection in justRead More

ERNI Electronics has extended its SMC connector family in a 1.27mm pitch with hot-swappable variants. These connector versions feature late mate contacts to permit reliable system swapping during operation and/or with applied electric voltage in industrial applications or in cars. With “hot swapping/hot plugging,” the electronics are reliably protected by following a defined sequence ofRead More