How Cheap Components Could ‘Help’ Kill Off Combustion Cars

The wire harness is a simple component that connects cables that has become an issue in the automotive industry. Some believe the cheap and humble harness could ‘spell’ the end of combustion engines.

The war in Ukraine cut off supplies of the auto part, which is home to a significant portion of the world's production, with wire harnesses made there fitted in hundreds of thousands of new vehicles each year.

These low-tech and low-margin parts – made from wire, plastic, and rubber with a lot of low-cost manual labour – may not be as well-known as microchips and motors, but they are necessary for car production.

According to interviews with over a dozen industry professionals and experts, the supply shortage may hasten some legacy automakers' plans to switch to lighter, machine-made harnesses for electric vehicles.

Globally, gasoline cars continue to account for the majority of new car sales. EVs doubled in number to 4 million last year, but accounted for only 6% of vehicle purchases, according to JATO Dynamics data.

According to Reuters, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida stated that supply chain disruptions such as the Ukraine crisis prompted his company to speak with suppliers about shifting away from the low-labor wire-harness model.

However, suppliers and automakers will shift harness production to lower-cost countries in the short term.

According to a source familiar with Mercedes-operations, Benz's the company was able to fly harnesses to Mexico to fill a supply gap. Japanese suppliers are expanding capacity in Morocco, while others are looking for new manufacturing lines.

Harnesses for fossil-fuel vehicles connect cables that can extend up to 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) in a typical vehicle. Everything from windows to seat heaters is linked. They are labor-intensive to produce, and almost every model is unique, making it difficult to shift production quickly.

The supply disruptions in Ukraine served as a wake-up call for the auto industry. According to suppliers and carmakers, the plants remained open in the early stages of the war due to the perseverance of workers who kept the parts moving despite power outages, air raid warnings, and curfews.

The new generation of wire harnesses used by electric natives such as Tesla can be manufactured in sections on automated production lines and are lighter, which is important because reducing an EV's weight is critical for extending range.

Many of the experts and executives interviewed believed that fossil-fuel vehicles, which are being phased out in Europe, China, and elsewhere, would not be around long enough to justify redesigns to allow them to use next-generation harnesses.

According to Walter Glück, head of Leoni's harness business, the supplier is working with carmakers on new automated solutions for EV wire harnesses.

Leoni is focusing on zonal or modular harnesses that are divided into six to eight parts, making them short enough for assembly automation and reducing complexity.

According to a person with knowledge of the matter, BMW is also considering using modular wire harnesses, which would require fewer semiconductors and less cable, saving space and making them lighter.