Is UV/EB the Answer to the EV Question? (It’s All About Energy!)

The changing Electric Vehicle (EV) landscape faces considerable challenges and concerns. These range from Battery Energy Density to Charge Time to Range Anxiety to the source of the electricity in the first place. It’s pretty obvious that all of these are related to energy...

So, what does UV/EB technology have to do with energy in EV design and production?

Ultraviolet (UV), Electron Beam (EB), and UV-LED, also known as energy curable technology, was developed in the late 1920’s by Edwin Newton of the B. F. Goodrich Company to "vulcanize" natural rubber, so it born of the automotive industry. UV curing began to evolve in the 1960's, with significant commercialization in the 1970’s driven by the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. Since that time, improvements in chemistry and processing technology has made it one of the most sustainable technologies used in manufacturing from aerospace to vehicle components.

In this presentation we will examine how UV/EB technology provides greater durability with thinner films, which means lower weight, translating to lower energy demands for an EV. This thinner film capability also improves anode and cathode performance, which offers greater efficiency in both discharge and charging modes for battery cells and packs. We’ll also examine how these technologies increase throughput, reduce waste, and reduce the energy required in the manufacturing coating process by up to 95% over conventional coating technologies, yet reduce CO₂ emissions to meet or exceed air quality standards without requiring add-on pollution controls. We’ll conclude by showing how these advantages combine to reduce the overall demand on the grid, supporting the conversion to “clean energy” sources.