Sensata Technologies Launches FaultBreak™ Contactor to Advance EV Safety and Reliability
Sensata’s new FaultBreak™ is a breakthrough, market-leading innovation designed to deliver resettable, passive fault protection for electric vehicles (EVs).Enables robust, cost-effective high voltage fault management, supporting safer, more reliable EV architectures.Reduces component count by over 50% compared to traditional fuse and contactor systems, while enhancing safety, serviceability, and system integration.
SWINDON, United Kingdom–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sensata Technologies (NYSE: ST), today announced the launch of its FaultBreak™ contactor, a next generation high voltage switching and protection solution engineered to improve fault clearing performance, enhance safety, and simplify electric vehicle power systems. FaultBreak’s passive and resettable fuse function enables robust protection against high magnitude fault currents, reducing system cost, weight, and complexity while enhancing vehicle safety and serviceability.
Reliable fault management remains a critical challenge as electric vehicles push toward more efficient and higher voltage architectures. Automakers require protection devices that can react quickly and consistently to high magnitude fault events to protect the vehicle and its occupants. FaultBreak delivers market leading fault clearing capability validated up to 16 kA at 1 kV and operates with low contact resistance for minimal power loss. This performance helps OEMs protect their systems against dangerous faults, including full battery short circuit conditions.
FaultBreak further improves vehicle safety through passive fuse functionality that interrupts faults without reliance on external detection electronics. For applications that require an added level of protection, the contactor can be paired in a dual configuration to create system level redundancy and support higher reliability targets.
By combining the functions of a fuse and a contactor in a single device, FaultBreak reduces component count, weight, and thermal losses compared to conventional contactor and fuse solutions. Eliminating pyrofuses, busbars, and low voltage harnesses simplifies the architecture and lowers total system cost. Unlike single use fuse technologies, FaultBreak can be reset after temporary or nuisance faults are cleared, maximizing vehicle uptime and reducing warranty claims.
With hermetic sealing that delivers low and stable contact resistance, a compact footprint, and the ability to protect against high magnitude short circuits, FaultBreak supports modern and next generation EV platforms that require strong safety performance, reduced complexity, and long term reliability.
Key benefits of Sensata’s FaultBreak Contactor include:
- Market-Leading Fault Clearing: Validated by rigorous testing of repeated breaks of 16kA @ 1kV.
- Passive Fuse Functionality: Eliminates the need for complex electronics, supporting ISO-26262 compliance and system simplification.
- Resettable Fault Protection: Minimizes downtime and warranty costs by enabling rapid system recovery after recoverable fault events.
- Compact & Lightweight: Reduces component count by over 50%; no extra cooling or special equipment required.
Markus Schwabe, EVP, Automotive, Sensata Technologies, said:
Our FaultBreak contactor represents an important advancement in high voltage protection,
“It helps our customers build electric vehicles that are safer, more dependable, and more economical to produce and maintain.”
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Sensata Technologies Launches FaultBreak™ Contactor to Advance EV Safety and Reliability, source
