Silicon Carbide Battery Technology Enables Longer Driving Ranges for Electric Vehicles (EVs)

Silicon carbide power semiconductors are helping electric vehicles (EVs) achieve longer driving ranges by improving key EV components such as the traction inverter, DC/DC converter and on-board charger.

SiC devices feature higher breakdown voltage and reduced on-resistance, which allows them to operate at faster switching speeds for improved energy conversion efficiency and to enhance EV battery performance while lowering operational costs over the lifecycle of their vehicle. This results in greater battery performance while decreasing operational expenses over time.

Power Electronics

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is revolutionizing power electronics by offering superior performance in key applications. SiC’s efficient electricity processing capabilities make it ideal for battery control applications that extend EV driving range and enable faster charging rates, such as battery control.

SiC devices can help EVs meet this growing need by optimizing power conversion and distribution processes to achieve maximum driving range, with lower switching losses and conduction losses than silicon-based alternatives.

SiC devices operate at higher operating temperatures than silicon counterparts, which enables them to work at much higher frequencies and thus allow a smaller, lighter and more compact circuit design – saving costs through simpler, more reliable designs and reduced cooling needs.

SiC’s high breakdown voltage allows it to withstand the much higher currents and voltages used in electric vehicle (EV) power applications, meaning less costly, thinner, more compact devices can be made for applications ranging from the traction inverter to onboard charger.

These power electronics components are essential in helping EVs travel longer distances between charges, thus alleviating range anxiety and speeding the transition to green mobility. SiC has unique performance characteristics – including improved efficiency and power density, lower costs and enhanced reliability that could revolutionise this industry.

Yole Developpement anticipates that silicon will remain dominant in the multibillion dollar semiconductor market; however, Yole anticipates that SiC and other wide bandgap (WBG) materials such as gallium nitride will grow substantially within EV power electronics in the near future. SiC’s superior performance and cost competitiveness makes it the ideal candidate to propel innovation within this sector.

While commercial silicon semiconductors typically can withstand temperatures up to 175 degrees Celsius without degrading, SiC can tolerate much higher temperatures without losing its electrical properties, giving designers greater options when optimizing power conversion processes and optimizing battery efficiency. SiC also helps extend battery lifespan while speeding charging times.

Automotive

Automotive OEMs seeking to adopt electric vehicle (EVs) technologies must constantly seek more efficient and effective power-conversion technologies. Silicon carbide semiconductors such as SiC have many benefits that will soon allow them to replace conventional silicon devices in many areas of a car–particularly power conversion components.

SiC chips have the capability of withstanding higher temperatures, greater voltages, and faster switching rates than silicon (Si) devices while offering significantly reduced energy losses; in fact, up to 50 percent less heat waste occurs as a result. This allows automakers to make smaller, lighter power converters which enable vehicles to go farther on a single charge or be recharged faster – providing automakers with options to make smaller, lighter power converters for longer vehicle runs or faster charging processes.

One such instance is the traction inverter used in electric vehicles to power their motor. This critical component relies on six silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) with pulse width modulation diodes that drive pulse width modulated motors; replacing IGBTs with SiC MOSFETs has proven effective at decreasing inverter size and weight by 10 percent while improving battery efficiency by 50 percent.

Automakers are taking notice, with more automakers using SiC devices in their power converters, particularly their traction inverters (which power motors), to take advantage of these benefits. A traction inverter is key component in an electric vehicle as it determines how far and quickly a car can travel on one charge and recharge.

Traction inverters require highly efficient power conversion at higher voltages than most components, necessitating switching elements with both high current density and thermal performance, such as SiC. Other semiconductor materials offer inferior conductivities compared to Si, such as silicon (Si).

SiC manufacturers are increasingly seeking partnerships with automakers. In some instances, these partnerships take the form of traditional supply agreements while in others they could involve strategic or R&D collaborations. Therefore, incumbent and prospective SiC producers should develop relationships early with OEMs to secure future business opportunities; doing so will enable them to gain the technical proficiency and supply assurance required for automotive design platforms.

Renewable Energy

Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductors have become an important component of power electronics that convert, control and distribute electricity. While silicon has traditionally been the preferred material for these components, SiC offers improved performance at higher temperatures, greater voltages and faster switching speeds than its silicon-based predecessor – creating more efficient compact power systems suitable for renewable energy applications.

These include power stages used to manage medium-voltage electricity flowing from solar panels and wind turbines into the grid, where silicon carbide devices could help cut losses by up to 50%, making it possible to meet emerging efficiency standards without increasing system size or costs.

Silicon carbide anodes have also been demonstrated to offer long cyclic stability with high capacity and superior safety, and their ability to limit volume expansion during cycling is a critical element of battery longevity and reliability, helping minimize capacity losses as well as early cell failure rates.

Silicon-carbon batteries boast a smaller footprint and reduced environmental impacts than lithium-ion batteries, which are nonrenewable and highly polluting. As a result, silicon-carbon technology has attracted considerable investment, such as Honor’s announcement to incorporate one into their latest flagship smartphone.

SiC is also revolutionizing how electric vehicles (EVs) are powered. SiC chips are being integrated into power electronics for traction motor controllers and on-board chargers to deliver more efficient energy management, leading to longer driving ranges – one of the major barriers to wider adoption of EVs and alleviating consumer range anxiety.

SiC can dramatically accelerate battery charging speeds by as much as 50%, helping reduce charge times and extend EV range. Furthermore, using SiC in key power electronic components such as inverters and power modules helps decrease weight and size considerably, further contributing to greater efficiency and range.

ON Semiconductor has increased production of SiC chips to meet rising demand in power electronics applications. They already collaborate with major automakers like Tesla to add them into its Model 3’s traction inverters for improved range.

Energy Storage

Silicon carbide (SiC) is revolutionizing how electricity is converted, controlled and distributed. Offering higher breakdown voltage, faster switching speeds and lower on-resistance than its silicon (Si) predecessors, SiC offers more efficient power electronics solutions with smaller footprints and greater compactness than ever. SiC devices have found widespread application across energy storage systems such as electric vehicle charging systems or solar energy storage solutions with battery energy storage requiring high efficiency and power density at greater reliability at lower costs – both SiC devices can meet these demands with superior reliability while offering higher power density at higher efficiency/density/system cost levels than ever before!

SiC semiconductors are becoming a key part of electric vehicle (EV) power inverters that control traction motors and on-board chargers, increasing driving range compared to conventional car engines and decreasing charging time, helping combat consumer range anxiety while hastening transition to electric mobility.

SiC technology in electric vehicle power electronics also results in reduced size and weight, leading to more fuel-efficient vehicles with reduced carbon emissions and costs associated with their conversion and distribution. SiC is also capable of improving efficiency through improved conversion and distribution processes reducing carbon emissions as well as costs by improving conversion processes and distribution networks.

As society shifts away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energies, battery storage systems need to become increasingly efficient in order to store wind or solar panel generated power. SiC insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) offer greater current/voltage capacity, higher power density, faster switching speeds than their silicon counterparts for reliable and efficient transmission/distribution of alternative energies to grid and consumers.

Silicon Carbide (SiC)-based Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) and MOSFETs provide higher performance than traditional silicon technology with faster switching, lower temperatures, improved current capacity and decreased loss. This leads to greater reliability and efficiency when applied in power supply solutions such as onboard chargers, DC/DC converters for industrial equipment, on-grid solar inverters, welding machines or uninterruptible power supplies.

SiC semiconductors are anticipated to experience rapid adoption across various market segments and application areas, including electric vehicles (EVs), solar energy panels, industrial facilities and battery energy storage systems. SiC is currently being utilized in traction inverters, DC-DC converters and on-board chargers of electric vehicles to increase driving range while decreasing weight, space requirements and cost – also improving vehicle efficiency by shortening charging times for batteries.