2027 Ford electric truck replaces 12V with 48V zonal architecture

[ChasingCoral]

Wondering if moving forward, Ford will use this new wire harness across the lines and put everything from F750 and E-Series right on down to all the other Fords to a 48v zonal system.

I can tell you that this was one advantage Alan Clarke saw in the collapse of Model E back into the main Ford hierarchy. When I asked him about that move, his response was that he was very happy to see it. In fact, the said it switched the position of the EVDC from a novel development program in an off-branch of Ford to a development facility that was already influencing how Ford was thinking about manufacturing across its entire lineup. While he seemed to be speaking more in terms of the assembly tree, I think it applied to vehicle architecture as well.

Just remember, you can only eliminate the LVB if you have a HVB to provide power. The approach won't work on a fully-ICE vehicle. You could switch from 12v to 48v as long as there is a 48v or larger battery (BEV, EREV, PHEV, or HEV).

 

[ChasingCoral]

Maybe the paradigm shift is to stop thinking about it as one low voltage battery to run all the “car stuff” vs one high voltage battery to power traction.

Instead maybe it’s a “dark start” low voltage battery (to do things like you describe) and then a giant battery to run everything after start.

For example, the radio and AC can run off the traction battery but contactors, proximity sensors, UWB radios… I dunno, the stuff that has to “awaken” the traction battery… could run on th equivalent of a lightweight Anker battery from Amazon?

Also remember that the Fathom has zonal architecture with multiple (5?) independent electronic zones: one in each quarter of the truck and perhaps a separate cabin zone for the central electronics. I'm not sure about the fifth -- it might be part of one of the two front zones like the connection from the charge port to the battery via the eBox is part of the left rear zone (yes, left-rear charging).

The engineers at EVDC confirmed that any step-down from 48v to 12v or 5v is carried out independently in the zone where the lower voltage is needed.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Speaking of 12V, I'll be interested in how many 12V systems are still on the vehicle. The Cybertruck still has 12V components - it was just too expensive for Tesla to pay the suppliers to convert them. Over (lots of) time, I'd wager the industry will move to 48V en mass and we'll see fewer and fewer 12V components.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Speaking of 12V, I'll be interested in how many 12V systems are still on the vehicle. The Cybertruck still has 12V components - it was just too expensive for Tesla to pay the suppliers to convert them. Over (lots of) time, I'd wager the industry will move to 48V en mass and we'll see fewer and fewer 12V components.

Remember their philosophy: "no part is the best part and the second best part does lots of jobs". 12v components require 12v step-downs. Based on our conversation with the engineers at EVDC, I expect most everything will be 48v with 12v limited to a couple of outlets.

 

[metroshot]

Such great news going from the archaic 12V lead acid battery days to the newer tech using higher DC voltages!

So much more efficient, thinner wires and less heating of components & modules due to resistivity.

As a MECP tech, I can really appreciate more uses of 48V tech - greater power bandwidth for more power hungry devices, easier to upscale to 120VAC, etc...

 

[thum]

The Achilles heal of the HMG 800v lines is the charge controller. It handles setup up and step down from 120/240 to 800 and 800 to 12 to charge the little battery. I think they are the only ones that do it with a single device.

I think Ford said they want to use a similar single module controller, hopefully not going all the way to 12 will help.

 

[Garbone]

48/52vdc has been telco industry standard since before any of us were alive. Some Bell Systems bean counter figured it out many, many years ago. Funny that just now the auto industry is following. Nothing new under the sun.

 

[onuiebvbevnulib]

Remember their philosophy: "no part is the best part and the second best part does lots of jobs". 12v components require 12v step-downs. Based on our conversation with the engineers at EVDC, I expect most everything will be 48v with 12v limited to a couple of outlets.

USB needs 5 Volts.

 

[paneubert]

USB needs 5 Volts.

Right, but any USB adapter (shoved in a round cigarette lighter port for example) would internally buck or boost from the source voltage to the ~5V. Same way a 120v outlet in the truck would buck down to ~5v (and convert to DC from AC) via the charging block plugged into the 120V. So 48v with 12v limited to a couple of outlets is not a problem.

 

[gzebrick]

I think the ct has a 48v battery. Going without a low voltage battery would be interesting. The transformer is going to be running 24/7.

Technically it's going to need a dual output variant of a relatively common DC-DC converter (not a transformer). Think electronic switching power supply with 400v DC in and 48v DC + 12v DC outputs. Switching power supplies ARE efficient, but they still have some losses are probably require active cooling when supplying heavy loads. Compared to 12v systems, the amps will be about 1/4 of what's typically needed, so that's very very good.

Transformers are passive and only convert AC voltage levels (120v AC > 18v AC for example)

I think it's about time we move to 48v power in vehicles for everything from lighting to motors, actuators, and various electronics. Good to have legacy 12dc power available, but there's no reason to use it for stock devices unless sourcing 48v assemblies is an issue.

There's another technology I haven't heard mentioned, but it's ripe to automotive use: 10-BASE T1S. Ethernet that's high-speed (10mb) data over a single twisted pair bus. Think ethernet without the individual LAN home run 8 pin cables. Unlike ethernet CAT-5, CAT-6 cable you can daisy-chain T1S components so you could have just ONE data trunk connecting to multiple devices strategically located throughout a vehicle (rear lighting module, left window/ door module, right window/door module, hvac control module, drivers' display module, etc). One simple bus running around the truck can eliminate home runs and could keep cost down.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

They have said Ethernet is on the Fathom. I've been curious about the physical wiring/cabling they'll use. Looking forward to a Munro teardown, which you know is coming the instant they can get their hands on a Fathom.

 

[Snakebitten]

Even my 2022 Gen14 has an ethernet network, albeit limited to just a few of the 42 modules onboard.

 

[Maverstang]

48/52vdc has been telco industry standard since before any of us were alive. Some Bell Systems bean counter figured it out many, many years ago. Funny that just now the auto industry is following. Nothing new under the sun.

Note quite as simple as that. Telephony used higher voltages to overcome long line losses in the local wire loops to homes. If anything they were the oddball because telephony used a -48v positive ground configuration.

Transportation equipment has generally used negative ground configurations with the battery voltage dependent on how much power was needed to start the engine. Cars started off with 6 volt batteries, migrating to 12 volts as demands rose. Trucks and specialized equipment often used 24v or even 36v batteries. Locomotives have 64v (72v charging) batteries because it takes a lot to crank a 3000 hp diesel engine.

For context, the legacy auto industry has been trying for years (decades) to up the automotive battery voltage. Several SAE papers going back to the 80’s outline 36v battery systems. But they were always stymied by the heavily outsourced supplier world because every single electrical item had to converted at once so no manufacturer wanted to bear the cost and risk of being first.

Ford has decided the pure clean sheet approach on the UEV finally merits the risk since few, if any, legacy electrical hardware is being carried over. Musk also decided to do it on the Cybertruck, but it is definitely not his original idea (and it will cost him since he does have his legacy electrical equipment carryovers).

So the evolution to 48v systems is organic based on practical need, there is nothing “Bell System” about it.

 

[Maverstang]

Speaking of 12V, I'll be interested in how many 12V systems are still on the vehicle. The Cybertruck still has 12V components - it was just too expensive for Tesla to pay the suppliers to convert them. Over (lots of) time, I'd wager the industry will move to 48V en mass and we'll see fewer and fewer 12V components.

Yes, the industry has been trying to move up to higher system voltages for decades. But as you say, the diverse and entrenched supplier base made it virtually impossible for anyone to take the financial risk of changing everything at once. Musk himself is trapped by his own legacy hardware, which is why so many 12v items still exist in the cybertruck.

GM couldn’t do it with Ultium either since that platform has many carryover electrical components to provide “standard” GM features.

But the UEV is completely clean sheet, not even a light bulb is carryover, so this was the right time to do it. The only 12v we should see on the UEV will be for external requirements like the cigarette lighter, and that conversion will be done locally at the socket, just like a USB outlet.

Now the UEV has broken the supplier dam, I would expect most new vehicle design platforms would evolve to 48v systems, but the full transition will take time. And there will be some old platform laggards… just as VW beetles still had 6v batteries long after everyone else moved to 12v.