Cover story
Charging into the future By Joseph A. Thomsen, Vice President, MCU16 Business Unit W
ith many countries looking to ban the sale of new vehicles that use gasoline and diesel engines starting in 2030, the development of electric vehicles (EV) is set for tremendous growth. This is driving the need
for more efficient and more cost effective EV designs with longer driving range and lower cost to help encourage consumers make the switch. However, the overall impact of electric vehicles (EVs) on the world is underestimated. The tendency is to think the transition is as easy as swapping gasoline tanks and engines for batteries and electric motors, but the reality is much more complex.
Emerging Technologies for Powertrain New power MOSFET technologies are one key part of this switch-over to electric operation for EV traction inverters to support increased efficiency and higher voltages. There is a lot of talk about using new wide-bandgap (WBG) technologies such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) for the powertrain of electric vehicles. New SiC designs are emerging to meet the growing high-power requirements for EV. GaN technology is growing but still needs to build confidence for proven reliability and drive
06 February 2022
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
lower prices in order to penetrate the EV inverter market. Both SiC and GaN are more expensive than traditional solutions, but they offer compelling features such as higher efficiency due to lower switching losses as well as lower system size and weight, due to higher switching frequencies and smaller cooling systems. Designs with these new technologies can be more complicated to ensure safe and robust operation. There will likely be a long transition from silicon power devices to the emerging technologies, with silicon power still designed into the most cost sensitive applications.
Increasing voltages in On-Board Chargers Going forward there will be a tremendous technology battle in on-board chargers (OBC), used to recharge the high voltage traction battery from the grid while the vehicle is parked. There’s a big push from 400V to 800V systems which plays to the advantages of SiC technology, but the superior switching speed of GaN makes for a more efficient charger. In the end, both technologies will likely win in different parts of the world, and both will likely coexist. What is certain is that voltages for charging EV will keep going up. The new technology developed for high power charging stations will then trickle down to the on-board chargers to speed up charging times.
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