Charging forward: Component manufacturing for electric vehicles

Charging forward: Component manufacturing for electric vehicles

Electric vehicle adoption across Europe is accelerating, though unevenly. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), battery-electric vehicles accounted for 17.4% of new car registrations across Europe in 2025, rising to 19.4% in the first quarter of 2026. A quarterly assessment by Transport & Mobility Leuven published in February 2026 found that while some member states are advancing rapidly toward electrification, others continue to face structural and economic barriers – including questions about whether charging networks are expanding quickly and consistently enough to meet rising demand. 

Every EV charging station contains a supply chain of components: protection parts, fasteners, cable management solutions, and access hardware. These components are engineered and manufactured to meet exact performance requirements, often in challenging outdoor environments. Zeynep Koksalan, EMEA Category Key Account Manager for Access Hardware at Essentra Components, has spent over nine years at Essentra engaging with markets across Europe, watching the EV charging sector move from a niche area of activity into one of the fastest-growing parts of her portfolio. "The electric vehicle market continues to grow really rapidly around the world, but some countries are much more prepared for the transition than others," she says. 

A portfolio built for adaptability

Essentra Components supplies a wide range of parts to the EV charging sector. Zeynep's focus sits within the company's Mesan brand, which is manufactured in Istanbul and, more recently, at a new Essentra facility in China. Alongside its broader component portfolio, Essentra has developed a dedicated website for EV charging customers, providing targeted product information and solutions for the sector.

As EV charging technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, there’s significant pressure on suppliers to keep up. For hardware components, the cost and lead times involved in physical manufacturing mean that it’s not realistic to start from scratch each time a specification changes. Zeynep’s approach centres on adaptability: building products with enough flexibility to be modified as standards and specifications change, rather than starting from scratch with each new demand. “It's important to know your products thoroughly and to design them, from the outset, in a way that allows them to be adapted.”

As EV charging systems have moved toward more modular and compact formats, Essentra has oriented its product development around space optimisation, adapting its existing portfolio to meet the spatial and functional requirements of newer charger designs. This strategy helps support customers whose own engineering cycles are under similar time pressure.

The demands of rapid charging

High-speed and rapid charging has introduced performance requirements that place new demands on every component involved. Greater charging speeds generate significantly more heat, making thermal management inside charging cabinets an active engineering concern. Material selection, electrical installation standards, and long-term durability have all come under greater scrutiny as a result.

"The design became more complex," Zeynep explains. "The materials need to keep up with modern speed demands while keeping safety at the forefront." Tighter manufacturing tolerances are now standard across the sector, requiring components to hold precise dimensions under thermal stress and perform consistently across demanding electrical environments.

According to the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP), corrosion alone costs the global economy approximately $3 trillion annually, with around 35% of that cost considered preventable. A 2026 Cost of Corrosion report by AkzoNobel found that sustainability has become a significantly more important driver of material and coating selection among EV battery and component manufacturers, as the sector tightens performance and environmental standards. For Essentra, the response has been to continuously review its manufacturing processes and material choices to meet evolving specifications, adjusting production parameters when needed. 

Outdoor performance as a core strength

A significant proportion of EV charging infrastructure sits in publicly accessible outdoor locations. Because of the environmental conditions, this infrastructure needs to meet key standards in weatherproofing and vandal resistance. Zeynep says Essentra's established expertise in outdoor cabinet solutions translates directly into EV charging applications.

The Mesan range includes locks and hardware components that carry anti-vandalism certifications, suited to the demands of public-facing infrastructure exposed to both the elements and deliberate misuse.

Essentra's Istanbul facility houses a large, dedicated laboratory where products are validated for weather resistance and durability – running assessments continuously across the working day. Zeynep describes the testing culture as thorough, and says the team regularly checks product quality before shipment even when it is not required by the customer. "We want to take care of our products and our customers,” Zeynep says. “Making sure quality is of the highest order means we have fewer problems to deal with down the line.” She notes this commitment to quality is not just about whether a product meets a specification on paper, but also if it will hold up through realistic field conditions.

Supply chain transparency and customer trust

Transparency in supply chains has become a priority across manufacturing sectors, driven by regulatory pressure and increasing customer scrutiny of where and how components are made. Zeynep says Essentra is well placed to meet those expectations, largely because transparency has been a working practice rather than a response to external demand.

"It’s very important to us to be transparent to our customers about where we are producing and where our components are manufactured," she says. Mesan access hardware is manufactured in Turkey, and a new access hardware facility has also been established in China. For the broader supply base, the company applies a qualification process to its suppliers, requesting documentation and following supply chain integrity protocols. "In my experience, questions about where our materials come from have never been a problem,” Zeynep says. “We know where our products are made, we communicate that openly, and if a customer needs additional documentation or detail, our team can provide it.”
In her view, that transparency is inseparable from the customer relationships Essentra works hard to maintain. “For me, it always comes back to customer trust. If you are transparent with your customers about where your products come from and how they are made, that trust follows naturally." In a sector where procurement teams are under growing pressure to trace materials and demonstrate responsible sourcing – to their own customers and to regulators – that openness is the groundwork for positive, forward-focused supplier relationships. 

EV sustainability through the supply chain

The sustainability profile of EV charging components extends further than the charging point. According to the International Energy Agency, manufacturing an electric vehicle generates 40 to 60% more emissions than producing a petrol or diesel equivalent, driven primarily by battery production and material processing. That places responsibility on every part of the supply chain to consider the environmental footprint of its own materials and processes.

Essentra has responded in part through the development of components made from post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials. Adoption of PCR is being shaped by regulatory pressure – including the UK's plastic packaging tax, revised European packaging regulations, and extended producer responsibility frameworks – alongside customer demand from organisations seeking to address their own scope 3 emissions.

The end-of-life dimension is also coming into focus across the wider EV sector. According to McKinsey, more than 100 million electric vehicle batteries are expected to reach retirement within the next decade. European Extended Producer Responsibility regulations that came into effect in August 2025 now require manufacturers to take responsibility for battery products across their full lifecycle. As accountability spreads further up and down the supply chain, the environmental credentials of every component become part of a broader picture that customers and regulators are increasingly able to trace.

The market keeps accelerating 

Zeynep says there are ongoing competitive pressures generated by the sector. “New players are constantly entering the market, drawn by the scale of the opportunity,” she continues. “That puts real pressure on cost, every day.”

She says Essentra's response to the influx of new competitors is to prioritise value and quality: advanced materials, design flexibility, rigorous testing, and close customer collaboration. The ambition, Zeynep says, is to be a partner who can provide solutions as well as the products. That means investing in engineering knowledge, deepening customer relationships, and staying close to the market as requirements continue to shift. As EV charging networks expand across Europe, the infrastructure supporting them will require suppliers capable of meeting stringent demands and industry standards.