Etching for a Greener Future

How chemical etching is helping enable next-gen automotive technologies.

December 1, 2025

Ben Kitson

The technology used in EV batteries is structurally similar to that used in satellites. The context shifts, but the engineering need remains constant to connect, conduct and control power. (Precision Micro)

In today’s automotive industry, energy is the common denominator driving change. From electric vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell trucks, and from the early rollout of autonomous taxis to the supporting infrastructure behind them, power and efficiency are the battlegrounds where tomorrow’s mobility will be won. Hidden within this transformation is a precision manufacturing process that makes many of these technologies possible: chemical etching.

Chemical etching doesn’t make headlines like a new EV launch or hydrogen refueling station, but it’s a quiet enabler. Using controlled chemical reactions to remove metal with pinpoint accuracy creates complex, stress-free components that traditional methods, such as stamping or laser cutting, often cannot match. As the need for lightweight, efficient, high-volume components grows, etching is stepping into the spotlight as a critical tool for next-generation automotive engineering.

Hydrogen and electric

It’s tempting to frame electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles as competitors. In reality, the two are increasingly complementary, particularly when you zoom out and look at where each is most viable.

Battery packs, fuel cells and heat exchangers all rely on etched components such as busbars, bipolar plates and printed circuit heat exchangers to enable power delivery and thermal management. (Precision Micro)

The European International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) noted that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could soon outperform EVs in emissions reductions, provided they run on renewable hydrogen. The study suggests that FCEVs could emit 79% fewer emissions than ICE vehicles over their lifetimes, which is slightly better than battery EVs powered by renewable electricity.

That said, this doesn’t mean hydrogen will replace battery-electric vehicles across the board. It’s likely we’ll see a combination of the two. EVs dominate the passenger car market, while hydrogen is gaining real traction in heavy-duty transport, long-haul logistics and commercial fleets.

Behind both are systems built around connectivity – not of data, but of energy. Battery packs, fuel cells and heat exchangers all rely on etched components such as busbars, bipolar plates and printed circuit heat exchangers to enable power delivery and thermal management.

In hydrogen, this might involve supplying plates for electrolyzers that generate hydrogen, or the heat exchanger flow plates that help compress and dispense it into a truck. The same principles apply inside the vehicle itself, such as the chemically etched components used in the hydrogen recirculation blower of next-gen trucks’ fuel cell-electric powertrains.

What’s interesting is how naturally this transition follows existing capabilities. Etching has long played a role in combustion-era automotive manufacturing, from injector components to under-the-hood systems. Now, the same process is used in the manufacture of fuel cells, EV battery connections and the entire hydrogen ecosystem. And unlike combustion, where the goal was incremental efficiency, the stakes here are huge. Hydrogen isn’t a side story. It’s a key piece of the energy transition puzzle.

Autonomous vehicles

That crossover is part of a broader trend in autonomous vehicles. For example, in the U.S., etched copper busbars are being used in the battery packs of autonomous robo-taxis. In the UK, a more robust rollout of self-driving taxis will come after the Automated Vehicles Act fully takes effect in late 2027.

EV battery packs sit under the passenger seat, with rows of cells connected by precisely engineered busbars featuring break points that isolate failures and prevent full-pack shutdown.

The busbars represent a classic pre-series development setup, with thousands of parts produced in moderate volumes, all within tight turnaround windows and changing specs. Chemical etching shines here, offering speed, precision and flexibility. While these vehicles may move to high-volume stamping processes later, etching helps in the early stages, when design isn’t yet locked.

And there’s a wider trend to acknowledge: the technology used in vehicle batteries is structurally similar to that used in satellites. The context shifts, but the engineering need remains constant to connect, conduct and control power. Unlike in space, the development volumes are still in the thousands before higher production methods take over.

Start-ups driving innovation

While established OEMs and Tier 1s are investing heavily in the transition, start-ups are often the ones taking the boldest risks, particularly in energy systems for next-generation vehicles. But breaking into the automotive supply chain is notoriously difficult. It’s capital-intensive, the technical requirements are unforgiving, and the path from prototype to production is full of hurdles. This is where chemical etching becomes a leveler. For young companies without deep pockets, the ability to design, test and refine components at speed is transformative.

A fuel cell start-up, for instance, can iterate on a bipolar plate design, refine the geometry and receive a new prototype in weeks rather than months, all without the prohibitive costs of hard tooling. Etching is also inherently suited to the components automotive energy start-ups are working on, whether bipolar plates in hydrogen fuel cells, flow plates in electrolyzers, or compact printed circuit heat exchangers. These all demand intricate channels and tight tolerances that would be challenging to stamp or machine, but which etching produces routinely, flat and stress-free. Crucially, because the process doesn’t introduce heat or mechanical stress, the parts retain material integrity, essential for demanding alloys and long-term reliability in vehicles.

A good example comes from a U.S. start-up developing alkaline-exchange membranes to cut the cost of green hydrogen. Their breakthrough materials can reduce stack costs by up to 80%, lowering overall green hydrogen production costs by a third.

Precision Micro collaborated with its customer to adapt flow plate designs originally intended for stamping to be etch-ready. By sidestepping the need for expensive tooling, the company could prototype economically and accelerate its journey toward commercialization.

This comes during a time that the automotive sector is in the midst of its most profound transformation in a century. Electrification, hydrogen and autonomy are converging to create a cleaner, smarter and more efficient mobility ecosystem. The technologies that underpin these shifts depend on components manufactured with extraordinary precision.

Chemical etching may not be visible on the surface of the latest vehicle, but without it, much of this innovation would stall. From fuel cell stacks to busbars in robo-taxis, from flow plates in electrolyzers to powertrains in EVs, etching is quietly shaping the vehicles – and the energy systems – of the future.

Ben Kitson is head of business development at Precision Micro and wrote this article for SAE Media.