Automotive manufacturing is currently undergoing an “electric revolution.” Major OEMs are electrifying their fleets in an effort to meet consumer demand for electric vehicles (EV). This growing market brings with it new requirements, especially when it comes to labels and tags. The EV market has a need for durable labels that operate in sync with the new automotive technology.

Adoption is expected to increase in the near future, with price reductions and longer distances expected from the EV market.

“In the long term, we see that electric vehicles will take market share over combustion engine cars,” notes Scott Krusinski, Business Development Application Engineer, Avery Dennison Performance Tapes. “This presents a tremendous opportunity for converters because these battery packs used in EV have challenges that require diecut applications. They show up in new and interesting ways, and we’re actively innovating in this space. And the opportunity is now.

“This is a global trend, but Asia is currently ahead on EV adoption,” Krusinski continues. “Europe is expected to accelerate faster than North America, but there is still significant opportunity in North America. We’ve recently reached 7.5% market share vs. combustion engine and that is expected to rise over 25% by the end of the decade in North America.”

The Inflation Reduction Act is one such government initiative that is prompting auto manufacturers to undertake greener practices. The outcome has been an increase in production of EV materials in North America.

Battery packs, specifically, are one area that require tagging, and there is a significant amount of surface area on which to include information. Other solutions assist in a plethora of applications, including thermal runaway protection, cell to cell bonding and compression pads. Avery Dennison’s portfolio enables EV battery and component manufacturers to tailor adhesives to the application while eliminating the cure times and equipment required with liquid adhesives.

“From a label perspective, there are a lot of safety labels and QR codes used,” says Krusinski. “If a battery pack needs to be serviced or recycled, a QR code can be used to scan and communicate that information.”

There are numerous other materials, such as electrical insulation and attachments, that require pressure sensitive adhesives. Additionally, Avery Dennison has conducted a host of bonding studies to ascertain which materials and adhesives will work in concert with EV components.

“One thing we’re seeing with EV battery is an emergence of all these materials that we historically haven’t used,” states Krusinski. “One major value proposition for Avery Dennison is we like to provide solutions to complex problems. If a customer has a new material that they don’t have experience with, they can send it to us for testing, which has been a theme in EV space.”

Avery Dennison has also optimized flame retardant products to help with EV. The company’s expansive automotive portfolio serves as an ideal starting point. “The typical durable automotive products in our portfolio are transferrable to the EV battery packs,” remarks Krusinski. “Avery Dennison can also help and advise label converters on where to go to work with companies that are emerging in the value chain, where they make cooling components, cells, etc., and these companies traditionally may not have been working with label producers, and now they need that help.”

The R&D labs located throughout Avery Dennison’s network, be it in Mentor, OH, or Painesville, OH, among others, have been beneficial in getting new customers up to speed. “It’s a significant advantage to provide our customers with the required data they need. Our labs in Mentor and Painesville are ISO 17025 certified, which enables us to test against automotive specifications – and then certify against those specs. That’s a nice service we provide for free to all our customers. We offer global support, as well,” Krusinski concludes.