"The breakthrough growth of new energy vehicles has gradually shifted the domestic automotive wiring harness market from a low-cost strategic market to a more technologically advanced and cost-effective market," commented Zhang Jingtang, Chairman of Tianhai Group, recently, regarding the current state of the automotive wiring harness industry.

"The development of new energy vehicles has indeed brought new opportunities for wiring harness technology upgrades," many industry insiders echoed in interviews.

Meanwhile, automotive electrification and intelligentization have also driven the vigorous development of the wiring harness industry, with a new wave of upgrades in wiring harness technology, processing techniques, and equipment accelerating. Furthermore, the standardization process for high-voltage wiring harnesses is steadily progressing. Recently, the National Seminar on High-Voltage Wiring Harnesses and Connectors for Electric Vehicles, hosted by the Automotive Standardization Institute of the China Automotive Technology Research Center, was held, signifying another step closer to standardization for high-voltage wiring harnesses. Based on interviews, automotive wiring harnesses are developing towards higher voltage, lighter weight, and standardization.

High-voltage wiring harness technology is a key focus.

Compared to traditional gasoline vehicles, hybrid vehicles, especially pure electric vehicles, have an additional 300V circuit system, primarily used for the power drive system, in addition to the 12V circuit system. This system requires high-voltage wiring harnesses to connect the various circuit components. Therefore, high-voltage wiring harnesses are not only a key component of the high-voltage electrical system in new energy vehicles, but also an important guarantee for the safe and reliable operation of these vehicles.

"The low-voltage wiring harnesses in new energy vehicles are not much different from those in fuel vehicles; the main difference lies in the high-voltage wiring harnesses. High-voltage wiring harnesses have undergone significant changes in terms of materials, manufacturing processes, and equipment," said Sun Wei, Component Development Manager of Dezhou Jincheng Electric Equipment Co., Ltd. He explained that the requirements for materials in high-voltage wiring harnesses are significantly higher, and because electrical safety is involved, power-off switches or maintenance switches must be added to the battery pack to disconnect the high voltage during maintenance work.

The development of high-voltage wiring harness technology is also reflected in the wiring harness processing technology. Wiring harnesses involved in battery pack voltage and temperature acquisition have very high requirements for crimping processes. Due to limitations in terminal materials, large-diameter sections of high-voltage wiring harnesses must use hydraulic equipment and cannot use traditional stamping processes. In response, Sun Wei stated, "New equipment must be used when processing parts requiring waterproofing. When order volumes are small and purchasing new equipment is not worthwhile, wire harness manufacturers generally require connector suppliers to provide pre-crimped semi-finished wire harnesses for secondary processing to ensure quality."

Furthermore, according to Zhang Jingtang, crimping technologies for high-voltage wire harnesses and aluminum battery cables are also rapidly developing. "Tianhai has successfully overcome technical challenges in aluminum battery cable technology, successfully applying friction welding technology for copper-aluminum connections to the aluminum battery cable production process. Currently, aluminum battery cables are being supplied in batches to General Motors."