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AUTOMOTIVE CONNECTORS
Automotive Connector & Pin Interconnect Solutions
Automotive electrical connections run under continuous vibration, thermal cycling from -40°C to +125°C (up to +200°C near the engine bay), and exposure to oils, fuels, and road salt. EV powertrains add 400–800V DC circuits alongside legacy 12V/24V/48V systems. A connector or pin interconnect only qualifies for production release once it has documented test data against these conditions — not a datasheet claim.
SM Contact designs and manufactures the pin interconnects, press-fit contacts, and splice-crimp terminals used in automotive PCB assemblies, wire harnesses, coil windings, and IGBT power modules, with qualification testing built into the engineering process rather than added afterward.
Material and coating connectors requirements
- Copper alloys balancing conductivity and spring retention force: bronze, brass, CuFe2P, CuMg0.1, CuNi3SiMg, CuNiSi, Staku30.
- Plating: Ni-based underlayer (1.3–3 µm) with an Ag, Au, or Sn finish, selected for long-term contact-resistance stability and fretting-corrosion resistance.
- Insulators/housings: PBT, PA66, LCP typically specified for dimensional stability through reflow and continuous operating temperature.
Automotive Connector Requirements: Technical Reference
Electrical performance
- Contact resistance: automotive connectors are generally specified below 10 mΩ; SM Contact press-fit pins are qualified to a resistance change (ΔRc) under 0.5 mΩ per EN 60352-5.
- Voltage range: 12V/24V/48V for conventional systems; up to 800V DC on EV high-voltage architectures, within the 60–1000V scope covered by USCAR-2 and LV215.
- Dielectric withstand: typically 1000V AC / 1 minute without breakdown.
Mechanical and environmental durability
- Vibration: ISO 16750-3 random vibration testing, 10–2000 Hz across 3 axes.
- Thermal cycling: -40°C to +125°C is the general automotive range; SM Contact’s EN 60352-5 qualification runs 10 cycles at -40°C/+85°C with a 30-minute dwell.
- Climatic sequence (EN 60352-5): +85°C for 16h, then +25°C/+55°C at 90–95% RH, then -40°C for 2h.
- Deformation limits (EN 60352-5): no cracks; drilled-hole contour deformation (a) < 70 µm; remaining plating thickness (b) > 8 µm; outer-layer deformation (c) < 50 µm.
- Sealing: IP67/IP68/IP6K9K for connector housings exposed to splash and pressure washdown.
What SM Contact Supplies for Automotive Manufacturers
1. Press-fit pins — EN 60352-5 qualified
Elastic eye-of-the-needle (EON) zone creates a solderless, reliable connection through mechanical compression rather than reflow. Available in 0.50×0.40 mm, 0.64×0.64 mm, 0.6×1.0 mm, 0.6×1.5 mm and 0.8×1.5 mm, with insertion (Fin) and retention (Fout) forces specified per size and PCB hole diameters from Ø0.60 to Ø1.25 mm.
2. Pin connectors matched to OEM tip geometry
Smooth, star, and winged/harpoon pin types, each suited to a different substrate: smooth for coil frames and drilled holes, star for metalized PCB holes and plastic components, wings/harpoon for square holes in plastic connector bodies.
3. O-PIN connector terminals — IGBT power module interconnects
Built for IGBT modules in EV/HEV inverters, on-board chargers, and DC-DC converters, where insertion-based copper sleeve terminals create pin-damage risk, tolerance-driven misalignment, and inclination-related scrap.
4. P-iN — magnet wire termination for traction motor windings
A patented alternative to standard insulation displacement contact (IDC) terminals for magnet wire coil connections, aimed at traction motor stator windings and actuator coils where a solderless, gas-tight termination needs to hold up under continuous vibration and thermal cycling. Technical datasheet available on request.
5. Splice crimping and quality control validation
Splice-crimp equipment for wire harness terminal application, backed by SM Contact’s own quality control instruments — contact resistance testers, pull-force testers, crimp-height measurement — used to generate the qualification reports referenced above rather than relying on a third-party lab for every batch