High conductive busbars with ultra-conducting composite of carbon nano-tubes for electric machines

A propulsion system for a vehicle, comprising:

• an electric motor, the electric motor including
• a stator including a plurality of windings;
• a rotor arranged within the stator;
• and
• a composite busbar connected to the plurality of windings, the composite busbar including
• a busbar including a surface, the busbar formed of at least one material selected from a group consisting of copper, aluminum, and iron, and
• a first copper tape laminated to the surface, wherein the first copper tape includes a layer of carbon nanotubes sandwiched between a first copper foil layer and a second copper coating layer, and wherein the first copper tape exhibits a thickness in the range of 10 micrometers to 40 micrometers, and wherein the carbon nanotube layer exhibits a thickness in the range of 2 nanometers to 50 nanometers, the copper coating layer exhibits a thickness in the range of 0.1 to 3 micrometers, and the copper foil provides the remainder of the thickness of the first copper tape.

A method of forming a composite busbar for a vehicle, comprising:

• heating a busbar and a first copper tape, wherein the first copper tape includes a layer of carbon nanotubes sandwiched between a first copper layer and a second copper layer, wherein the first copper layer is a copper foil and the second copper layer is a copper coating, and wherein the first copper tape exhibits a thickness in the range of 10 micrometers to 40 micrometers, wherein the carbon nanotube layer exhibits a thickness in the range of 2 nanometers to 50 nanometers, the copper coating layer exhibits a thickness in the range of 0.1 to 3 micrometers, and the copper foil provides the remainder of the thickness of the first copper tape;
• laminating the first copper tape to the busbar by applying a force to the busbar and the first copper tape and bonding the first copper tape to a surface of the busbar;
• and
• heat treating the busbar and first copper tape.