CONNECTOR PARTNER NAVIGATES TWO-WHEELERS
IN LOW- AND NO-EMISSIONS FAST LANE
By: Dan Cantrell
Industry Manager
Vehicle Components & Recreational Markets
TE Connectivity - Industrial & Commercial Transportation

A SAFER, MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR TWO-WHEELERS

Designers need to look carefully for the best inter-connect

The impact of the changes required to be compliant withsolutions in today’s harness and wiring designs. Emission

the new regulations should be considered in light of theregulation compliance requirements add complexity andtotal worldwide market production for motorcycles, whichreliability elements to designs. The developing “e-bike”

was estimated at 53 million units in 2018. India and themarket creates new connectivity challenges, requiring

Asia-Pacific market made up around 95 percent of the total

new solutions.

market. This translates to significant electronic content
upside with upgraded sensors, relays, on-board diagnostics

Designers of two-wheel vehicles meet new emission(OBDs), ECUs, metering and ABS connectors, wiring andregulations by adding electronic sensing and control

tubing to meet the required emission regulations andsystems. As two-wheelers move to battery-driven

differentiation features.

sealing, electrically shielding and physically protecting thequality of their signal and power connections.

EMISSION REGULATION UPGRADE
When the European Union put out its stricter Euro 5 and“connectors and cables must be robust
enough to ensure long-term signal andpower integrity in the face of extremely
harsh environmental and stressful
mechanical operating conditions.

“powertrains, designers must place the highest priority on

Euro 6 emissions directives, it became clear motorbikes
would increasingly need to turn to electronic control units(ECUs) to meet and stay in compliance. Already, motorbike
manufacturers have started to incorporate anti-lock braking
systems (ABSs), starting in 2016 with bikes above 125 cc inEurope. Japan and India will do so in 2018.
Compared to Euro 4, Euro 5 and Euro 6 impose tighter
limits on emissions such as carbon monoxide, unburnedhydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen from exhausts. Euro 5
equivalent starts in Taiwan in 2018, and is required in Europe
and Japan by 2020. In India, the government is determined

The many connectors and cables must be robust enoughto ensure long-term signal and power integrity in the faceof extremely harsh environmental and stressful mechanicaloperating conditions. Motorbike designers are alreadyaware of the delicate nature of electronic devices, boards
and connectors relative to their mechanical counterparts.
As such, they have learned to choose their connectors
and route their cabling carefully, accounting for wide
temperature ranges (minus 40 to 135 degrees Celsius),
vibration, rain and humidity.

to jump to Euro 6 equivalent directly from Euro 4 in 2020 toreduce air pollution. China will implement Euro 4 equivalent
in 2019, which is also a significant improvement. New andELECTRIC TWO-WHEELERS

registered vehicles will need to be equipped with electronic

While designers of internal combustion engine (ICE)

fuel injection systems as well.

motorcycles work to meet compliance requirements,
another more organic trend has consumed the two-wheeler
market: the rise of electric motorbikes and e-bikes. These arebeing adopted rapidly worldwide, not just as ICE motorbike
replacements or for push-bike assist, as some cases areproviding consumers an alternative to four-wheel passengervehicles. E-bikes have one unique advantage over passenger
vehicles in that users can pedal if the vehicle runs out ofbattery power.
E-bikes have other advantages too: they are smaller
and nimbler than passenger vehicles, which is useful oncongested roads. They also cost less, and pedal-assist
e-bikes encourage users to ride bikes who might otherwise
be concerned about their ability to cycle long distances.
Advances in e-bike electronics and control are also helping
in their adoption. For example, smoother motor-control
algorithms and the use of microelectromechanical systems

A SAFER, MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR TWO-WHEELERS(MEMS)-based accelerometers and gyroscopes have led

Many of these connectors are available off-the-shelf and are

to improved handling and balance. The placement ofadequate for most applications. However, in situations wherethe motors and battery compartment has also improveda more advanced or custom connector design is required,balance with a lower center of gravity. Yet, proximity to thea good connector and harness partner/supplier will alreadyground makes the battery and motor more susceptible tobe tuned to the customers’ needs and should be able towater ingress and mechanical shock, making the choice of

dispatch a team to develop a solution quickly.

This importance rides atop the already demanding currenthandling properties of e-bike connectors and relays, whichmust be able to carry or switch between 10 A and 100 A atvoltages of up to 100 VDC, compared to 12 or 24 VDC for
combustion-engine two-wheelers.

“the move to e-bikes coincides with users’
demands for the integration of more
multimedia entertainment, sensing,display and navigation systems on topof the basic two-wheeler platform.

“connector particularly important.

ADDED FEATURES, PUSH CONNECTOR DENSITY
AND SIGNAL INTEGRITY
The emission regulation upgrade and the move to e-bikes
coincides with users’ demands for the integration of more
multimedia entertainment, sensing, display and navigation
systems on top of the basic two-wheeler platform.
This combination of signal density and high power cancompromise an electronic control system over time, asituation that is only going to get worse as more electronics
are added to smaller chassis.
To meet the needs of next-generation two-wheelers,designers need to consider their connector, sensor andharness options early in the design cycle. With design
requirements changing rapidly, it may be wise to findand partner with a supplier knowledgeable in standards
compliance requirements, and with the breadth ofexperience to provide a more holistic approach to systemdesign, safety, reliability and efficient signal and power
routing.

Given the fast-changing design environment of modern twowheelers, having a highly technical connector, sensor, relay
and cable harness team available to provide design insightand rapid turnaround of custom connectors can make or

To handle the increased pin density, for example, connector

break a design. This is especially true when it comes tovendors have already developed a single connector withsafety, sustainability and innovation.

higher pin densities for analog or digital signals, with
sufficient isolation to allow co-location of power rails.

A SAFER, MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR TWO-WHEELERSSpecifically, being able to connect safety applications suchas visual detection, ABS and anti-theft systems when andwhere they are needed most ensures that rider safety is notcompromised due to lack of technical connector knowledge.
From a sustainability point of view, a good connector
partner can enable a greener, more fuel-efficient future
through the use of connectivity solutions for ECU/EFI,
hybrid and electric applications, start-stop systems and onboard diagnostics.
Of course, design success requires constant innovation
to meet the challenges of tomorrow. This has led to therealization of SmartSeal headerless ECU technology,
Litealum crimp technology, modularization and nano/pico
MQS interconnect miniaturization.
From compliance to safety and sustainability, nextgeneration two-wheelers are on the leading edge of electromechanical system design, making it critical that designers
be confident in their connector partner’s technical andinnovation capabilities.
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All Rights Reserved 02/2018
TE, TE Connectivity and TE connectivity (logo) are trademarks. Other product and/orcompany names might be trademarks of their respective owners.

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NANOMQSLITEALUM

SMARTSEALTE Connectivity’s NanoMQS

Our LITEALUM wire-crimp

Our SmartSeal connector features

solutions support the need totermination enables a seamless,a rugged, compact design with

reduce weight and space in two-stable, secure solution fora lever slide lock mechanism

wheel vehicles.

aluminum wire in motor vehicles.

that secures the connector to anelectronic control unit (ECU)

A SAFER, MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR TWO-WHEELERS