Sam Norman, head of business development for transport and smart technologies at global foam manufacturer Zotefoams, tells us why pack design is key to EV’s ongoing success
The rise of EVs has created a manufacturing challenge of scale. According to the International Energy Agency, more than 20 million EVs were sold globally in 2025, representing one-in-four new cars worldwide. Europe alone reached 4.2 million EV sales – equating to 28% of its new-car market.
Battery demand reveals how quickly the manufacturing challenge is scaling in response. The International Energy Agency expects EV battery deployment to rise from around 1.2 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2025 to almost 3TWh by 2030.
Every additional platform brings thousands of repeated parts, tight tolerances and material choices that must perform in production – as well as in service. The battery cell challenge still attracts the most attention, and cell composition, range and charging speed remain critical. But pack design now carries more of the burden for cost, consistency and long-term confidence.
An EV battery pack is a controlled mechanical system. Cells need to stay in position, remain separated, withstand road shock and accommodate small dimensional changes as they charge and discharge. Across a high-volume pack, a minor shift in spacing or pressure can multiply across hundreds or thousands of repeated components. Over time, those variations can affect consistency on the line and confidence in service.
Compression control is critical. In simple terms, this means managing the force applied around cells, so they remain supported through the life of the vehicle. Too little force can allow unwanted movement. Unevenly distributed force can create localised stress. The goal is steady behaviour across a pack exposed to vibration, temperature change and long-term load.
Advanced foams can play an important role in this part of the design. Materials such as Zotek T can provide resilient spacing and controlled compression, helping cells remain separated and supported through assembly and use. For designers and engineers, the key consideration is long-term behaviour. Two critical measures matter early in the specification process. Compression set describes how well a foam recovers after being squeezed. Creep describes slow deformation under sustained load. Both influence how reliably a foam keeps doing its job years after production, when the pack has been through repeated charging cycles, road vibration and changing operating conditions.
The same principle applies on the production line. A prototype pack can absorb more manual adjustment and inspection. A vehicle platform produced at scale needs components that can be converted, handled and assembled repeatedly – without adding avoidable complexity. Thickness variation and inconsistent compression response can quickly become line issues when the same part is repeated at volume.
Cost belongs in the same discussion. While a low unit-price foam can seem the best option at face value, it can create cost elsewhere if it increases scrap, slows assembly or requires more rework. Pack engineers must instead look at whole-system, whole-life costs, including material price, conversion, assembly compatibility, validation effort and in-service confidence. That wider view is critical as EV makers work to reduce cost while protecting durability and driver trust.
Weight also matters where a lighter component supports vehicle efficiency or packaging flexibility. Inside the battery pack, the primary value of foam is resilient compression performance, repeatability and manufacturability. Those factors determine how well a component can hold tolerances around the cells over many years of use.
As EV programmes mature, pack design will take on more of the performance burden. The value of the cell depends on the architecture that holds it securely, manages tolerances and supports stable operation through real-world use.
For OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, commercial advantage can come from treating foam components as critical engineered parts with defined functions, then validating their compression behaviour. The EV industry has spent years proving that electric powertrains can work. The next phase will be defined by how consistently and affordably they can be built. Battery cell technology will keep moving; pack design will decide how much of that progress reaches the road.
