#ecars

It's incredible how many e-cars I see on the road here in China. And so many brands that I don't know at all - and therefore of course not on the screen.

I plan to walk through my neighborhood next week and write down all the cars that are standing (or driving) around. I'm already very curious to see exactly what the ratio is between e-cars and gasoline cars. I'm also very curious to see how many of the car brands I actually (don't) recognize.

Embedded silicon carbide on its method to mass production for e-mobility applications. © Volker Mai/Fraunhofer IZM

Scientists have actually been looking into silicon carbide, an appealing alternative product for the semiconductor market, for a number of years now. The Fraunhofer Institute for Dependability and Microintegration IZM signed up with forces with partners in the SiC Module task to increase this kind of power semiconductor for commercial production. Their effort goes to enhance the performance of drivetrains in electrical automobiles and extend these automobiles’ variety.

Electromobility has its cynics, with some doubters indicating constraints such as electrical vehicles’ leading speed and optimum variety. Both depend upon the integrated power electronic devices, the electronic heart of e-mobility. Size, weight and performance are 3 make-or-break aspects for power electronic devices predestined for setup in e-cars. Silicon carbide (SiC), a brand-new semiconductor product, ticks all 3 boxes. It is more effective yet leaves a smaller sized footprint than traditional semiconductors such as silicon.

Nevertheless, silicon carbide is not to be discovered in any e-car on the roadway today. As it stands, this semiconductor product is still restricted to research study laboratories. To port it from the laboratory to the factory, the SiC Module task has factored all the conditions of commercial production into the formula from the beginning. The module’s style is a case in point: Scientists at the Fraunhofer IZM are basing it on the structure of the timeless printed circuit board that the market has actually long preferred. This ought to accelerate its rollout.

Much shorter power lines, much better power routing

The module is likewise gaining from the most current clinical advances. Instead of wire-bonding the semiconductor to the plan, the scientists chose to embed it straight in the circuit with a galvanic-assisted copper contact to reduce the wires and enhance power routing. The group likewise brought the possible client on board for this advancement effort. In the task’s very first year, they prepared a spec sheet pinpointing the electrical, thermal and efficiency requirements for the module and semiconductor. The scientists worked carefully with users, dealing with their desires when they identified the item specifications. Car manufacturers, element providers and OEMs were straight associated with the effort to draw up the power-electronic modules’ size, design and electrical circuits. This cumulative looked for to make the the majority of the space readily available in the automobiles’ powertrain. Lars Böttcher, group leader at the Fraunhofer IZM and head of the SiC sub-task project, states, “We’re going beyond a general proof of concept because we are developing more than just a prototype in this project”. The objective is to increase both the brand-new semiconductor product silicon carbide and the embedding technology for mass production.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research study is moneying the task with 3.89 million euros as part of the E-Mobility Call. Slated to range from January 2018 to December 2020, the task includes 6 partners along with the Fraunhofer IZM: AixControl – Gesellschaft für leistungselektronische Systemlösungen mbH, Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH, Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen, Robert Bosch GmbH, Schweizer Electronic AG, and TLK-Thermo GmbH.