FPC Drives Automotive Lightweighting in Electric Vehicles

As new energy vehicles and intelligent driving technologies advance, lightweighting has become a central goal for improving performance and energy efficiency. Flexible Printed Circuits (FPCs), known for being thin, lightweight, bendable, and highly integrated, are expanding from Battery Management Systems (BMS) to entire electronic architectures, becoming a key technology in reducing vehicle weight.
FPCs use a polyimide substrate only 0.34mm thick to replace bulky traditional wiring harnesses. For instance, Tesla’s Model Y reduced door wiring from 25 cables to just 8 using FPC, cutting total length from 1.5 km to 100 meters and decreasing weight by 80%. BYD’s Yangwang U8 saw an 80% reduction in battery pack connection points and a failure rate of just 0.1% thanks to automated FPC welding.

In battery systems, FPCs not only save approximately 1kg per vehicle but also improve structural integration. Companies like CATL and BYD use FPCs with busbars in Cell-to-Pack (CTP) designs, increasing volume utilization by 15% and raising energy density beyond 200Wh/kg. This enables a 70kWh EV to hold 3-5% more battery cells, extending range by around 20 km.
FPCs also meet the high-speed signal demands of cameras and radar in autonomous driving. With impedance control (±5%) and shielding, FPCs ensure reliable multi-GB/s data transmission. NIO’s ET9, for example, uses FPC in its 4D imaging radar, reducing signal delay by 30 and lowering false alarms to 0.01 per hour.

The market for FPC in power batteries is growing rapidly, expected to exceed 10 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of over 40%. Large-scale adoption by automakers like Tesla and BYD has driven costs down—the unit price of FPC dropped 47% from 2020 to 2024. By 2030, the global FPC market is projected to surpass 24 billion, with energy storage systems accounting for 33%.

Despite its benefits, FPC still must overcome challenges such as high initial investment, the need for improved durability under high temperatures and vibration (e.g., with graphene coating), and low recyclability (<30%) of polyimide materials.

Looking forward, FPC is evolving toward ultra-thin, integrated, and smart applications. Tesla’s wireless BMS could reduce low-voltage wiring by 30%, and new materials like silver-coated aluminum nanowires (95% of copper’s conductivity) may further lower weight. With the adoption of solid-state batteries and by-wire chassis systems, FPC is set to transition from alternative component to architecture-defining technology, accelerating a new era of automotive lightweighting.

In the push for greener mobility, FPC exemplifies how advances in materials science and smart manufacturing can redefine industry standards—where every gram saved contributes to reshaping the future of transportation.