EB-eDrive

Currently, UK EV drive manufacturing uses Laser welding as a 'go-to' high-productivity joining process for copper and aluminium components. However, laser welding has shown many short comings, owing to the fundamental limitation of adsorption of laser energy into copper material, and thus greatly complicating the manufacturing processes of PEMD devices.

This has encouraged Ford to explore alternative processes.

Internal Ford evaluation and lab-based tests have shown that replacing laser welding with electron beam welding greatly impacts production efficiency and quality of the product.

Lab-based proof of concepts has demonstrated that electron beam welding overcomes most issues associated with laser welding process. The electron beam welding process is efficient without needing pre-welding preparation, including trimming the parts before joining occurs. This eliminates scrap produced during the welding process. This process also doesn't require shielding gas and operates in a controlled vacuum machine instead of the atmospheric environment therefore has a significantly less negative impact on the environment.

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering has joined Ford on the EB-eDrive project to automate and scale up the electron beam process to an industrial scale which requires gathering comprehensive data and creating a robust operational and quality assessment process. This project will develop and establish a world-class, UK-based, welding supply chain, ensuring continued UK leadership in Driving the Electric Revolution.