Aptiv receives 20th PACE Award for Selective Metal Coating

Aptiv was recognized by Automotive News as a 2018 PACE Award winner for its Selective Metal Coating technology, marking the 20th time Aptiv has earned this honor. For over 20 years, the Automotive NewsPACE Awards have honored suppliers with ground breaking innovation and technological advancements.

The Aptiv Selective Metal Coating team was recognized with the
2018 Automotive News PACE Award.

Aptiv's Selective Metal Coating
Vehicle electrification and autonomous vehicles are the biggest technological breakthroughs in the 100+ year history of the auto industry. These breakthroughs, conversely, will demand much more of the vehicle’s electrical architecture. 

For a company like Aptiv, focused on the hardware and software, that’s great news. The changes will be both additive, meaning developing the systems and subsystems that no vehicle has today, and transformational, meaning reinventing components that already exist.

One of the essential transformations will be to the wires themselves. While copper has been the gold standard for automotive wiring forever, automakers have dreamed of using aluminum for nearly as long.

Aptiv devised a new way to prevent galvanic corrosion and ensure stability of electrical and mechanical terminal connections for aluminum wiring by using an innovative technology called Selective Metal Coating (SMC). 

The SMC Terminal technology allows for the replacement of copper wiring with aluminum wiring, providing an overall reduction in the weight of the vehicle. Click below to learn more.