The rise of electric vehicle (EV) technologies holds great promise to provide consumers with vehicles that are quieter, less expensive to operate and offer reduced emissions. Combined with sophisticated advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) capabilities, next-generation EVs can offer enhanced safety features along with improved comfort and convenience. For all their possibilities, however, acceptance of these advanced vehicles depends fundamentally on their ability to reduce “range anxiety” for consumers who are worried that an EV might suddenly leave them stranded with a depleted battery. Arrayed against this fear, advanced battery management systems (BMSs) built with a flexible printed-circuit assembly (FPCA) provide features able to optimize battery efficiency and maximize range.

In 1887 British physiologist Augustus Desiré Waller repurposed a desktop-sized capillary electrometer for use as the world’s first functional electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) device. Over a century later, a major consumer device manufacturer has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance as a class 2 medical device, making it the first consumer-oriented ECG device able to present the results directly to the consumer without first needing the review of a medical professional. It will not be the last.