Electric vehicles (EVs) are more prevalent than ever, and all signs point to these cars being the future of automobiles and transportation. But there’s still much about EVs many people don’t know, including EMI shielding. Our breakdown will explain the nuances of EMI and EMI shielding and why electric vehicles need the technology to operate correctly.
What Is EMI?
Before we get into why EVs require advanced EMI shielding, what exactly is EMI? EMI stands for electromagnetic interference (or radio frequency interference), which causes electronic device circuits to malfunction or fail altogether.
EMI can result from human-made or natural sources, but human-made EMI is the most frequent in today’s modern world. Essentially, any device with electronic circuitry can also create an electromagnetic field, which can cause interference to unprotected circuits and connectors and damage electronic devices.
What Is EMI Shielding?
Clearly, EMI is a significant problem for a modern world like ours that depends on electronic devices in our daily lives. So how do we get past it? The simple answer is with EMI shielding, but what does that mean?
EMI shielding is a technique to create a protective barrier around sensitive circuits and connectors in electronic devices to absorb and prevent EMI. As our technology has developed, so have EMI shielding advancements. Now every smartphone contains EMI shielding to ensure clear and capable connections with minimal interference.
If you’d like to learn more, you can check out this handy beginner’s guide to EMI shielding.
Pro tip: If you’ve noticed that your smartphone drops a lot of connections mid-call, it could be due to faulty EMI shielding in the device.
Why Do EVs Need EMI Shielding?
What do EVs have to do with EMI shielding? EMI shielding isn’t just for radios and smartphones but also for modern vehicles, especially EVs.
EVs contain tons of electrical circuits and sensitive equipment from the radio to traffic management, advanced safety features, and even self-driving technology. Typical sources of EMI inside an EV include:
- Electric motors
- Battery charger
- Shielded and unshielded cables
- Navigation systems
- Collision avoidance radar
If an EV doesn’t have adequate EMI shielding, these systems could malfunction, putting the driver in danger and preventing our ability to develop more advanced autonomous EV vehicles. An EV is like one big, mobile electronic device, so if it doesn’t have adequate shielding, it could malfunction from EMI.
Now you know a little about electric vehicles, EMI shielding technology, and how their futures coincide. If you own an EV experiencing technical troubles, ensure that the EMI shielding is working correctly first.
