Sensata Technologies has revealed the introduction of its FaultBreak contactor, a “next-generation” high-voltage contactor and protection solution that has been created to “significantly improve safety, reliability, and ease-of-use in electric vehicle (EV) power systems.” The “groundbreaking” solution has been created to provide resettable, passive fault protection that is capable of “reacting to severe fault currents,” helping automakers protect EV architectures “while keeping costs and complexity low.”
FaultBreak™ integrates all the necessary functionality of a fuse and a high-voltage contactor into a single, space-efficient solution that has been proven to withstand fault currents of up to 16 kA at 1 kV, with low contact resistance for optimal power transfer, a critical aspect as battery systems in EVs are likely to move to higher voltage systems in the future.
Offering passive fuse functionality that can function without external electronics and can reset after a fault, FaultBreak™ is a significant innovation in electric vehicle electrical protection systems, providing reduced downtime, warranty savings, and a safe and reliable electric vehicle solution.
What FaultBreak™ Brings to EV Power Systems
Traditional EV high-voltage protection systems use separate fuses and contactors along with additional components like pyrofuses, busbars, and low-voltage harnesses. Sensata’s FaultBreak™ disrupts this paradigm by integrating these functions into one device. This consolidation reduces the component count by more than 50 % compared to conventional solutions, which in turn reduces weight, footprint, thermal losses and system complexity – all critical metrics in EV design and performance.
Key performance features and benefits include:
Market-Leading Fault Clearing: Validated to handle repeated high-magnitude fault events (16 kA @ 1 kV).
Passive Fuse Functionality: Provides intrinsic safety without reliance on external detection electronics.
Resettable Protection: Allows systems to recover without replacing parts after temporary fault events, improving uptime.
Compact & Lightweight: Simplifies integration into modern EV power systems.
“Our FaultBreak contactor represents an important advancement in high voltage protection,” said Markus Schwabe, EVP, Automotive, Sensata Technologies. “It helps our customers build electric vehicles that are safer, more dependable, and more economical to produce and maintain.”
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Why This Matters for the Energy & Power Industry
The Energy & Power domain, which covers electric mobility, power distribution, electrical protection, and HV design, is in a state of rapid transition, driven by the electrification curve in the world. (For a wider industry context, refer to Energy & Power and the industry under Energy & Power.) The introduction of advanced protective technologies such as FaultBreak has a number of significant implications:
1. Enabling Higher-Voltage EV Architectures
Increased voltage levels for EV systems, such as systems above 400V and up to 1kV and beyond, can provide advantages such as faster charging and higher efficiency. However, these advantages come at a cost of increased fault protection requirements, especially for systems that experience a short circuit or malfunction. FaultBreak™ provides fault protection at these higher voltage levels, allowing designers and manufacturers to take advantage of increased performance for EV systems without compromising safety.
Dangerous fault currents can be handled by a passive and resettable method, reducing the need for electronic fault detection systems and providing a high level of safety as defined by safety standards such as ISO 26262.
2. Reducing System Cost and Complexity
Traditional fuse-and-contactor systems add cost and mechanical complexity to EV powertrains – increasing production expenses and integration challenges for automakers. FaultBreak™’s integrated design cuts component count and eliminates several ancillary parts (pyrofuses, additional wiring, etc.), simplifying the electrical architecture and reducing both system cost and assembly time.
Simplification also enhances reliability and reduces points of failure — an important consideration for fleet operators and OEMs seeking to minimize warranty claims and maintenance overhead.
3. Supporting Serviceability and Vehicle Uptime
One of the key benefits of FaultBreak™ technology is its resettable fault protection capability, which allows the contactor to reset after transient or non-destruction faults. In contrast to single-use fuse technology, which has to be replaced after each fault occurrence, resettable fault protection offers reduced maintenance requirements to improve uptime and lower lifecycle costs for vehicles and fleet businesses, which are increasingly important to consumers and businesses alike.
Industry Impacts and Business Opportunities
Automotive OEMs and Tier-1 Suppliers
Automakers and Tier-1 system suppliers are under continuous pressure to improve the safety, efficiency, and cost-efficiency of EV power systems. Sensata’s FaultBreak™ contends directly with these requirements, providing a safer, simplified alternative that supports higher voltage platforms without additional electronic complexity.
This could accelerate the adoption of higher-voltage systems in next-generation EVs — including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, and heavy-duty electrified platforms. OEMs may find FaultBreak™ attractive for its combination of safety performance and reduced integration burden.
Power Electronics and Component Manufacturers
As the architecture of the powertrain of Electric Vehicles develops, so too does the need for innovative and highly technological power electronics and protective devices. This is an opportunity for organizations involved in the Energy and Power domain, such as high-voltage switching, power modules, and protective circuits.
Organizations that can innovate and deliver in this space will see an opportunity as this market develops and as car manufacturers look for partners that can enable these vehicles.
Fleet Operators and EV Service Providers
For fleet operators and service providers, this means that better fault protection implies better reliability in operation. The resettable nature of FaultBreak™ could mean that there are fewer unscheduled breakdowns, or that the time spent out of action for each vehicle could be reduced.
This is particularly significant for commercial or public service fleets where reliability is an important key performance indicator.
Conclusion
As electric vehicles become ubiquitous across transportation sectors, innovations such as the FaultBreak contactor are on track to play a pivotal role in helping to realize a safer, more efficient, and more sustainable electric vehicle power system. By helping solve one of the fundamental challenges facing high voltage fault management, Sensata is advancing both the automotive electrification and Energy & Power industries.
As the popularity of EVs grows around the world, as well as the importance of the safety and protection of power systems, technologies that can deliver strong performance, simplicity, and reliability will be the driving factors for future growth, thus technologies such as FaultBreak™ will be the catalysts for the future of the energy systems.
