German company Bosch is currently developing silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors to further improve the energy efficiency of electric vehicles. The semiconductor material is expected to start production in 2020.
Silicon carbide is generally considered by the industry as the next-generation power semiconductor material, which has the advantages of high critical breakdown electric field and high electron mobility. Compared with today's IGBT power semiconductors, it has lower heat generation and higher efficiency, and the energy consumption saved can bring about a 6% increase in cruising range for electric vehicles.
Today, electric vehicle companies generally rely on ways to increase battery capacity to increase battery life. However, due to the development speed and cost of battery technology, it is difficult for electric vehicle companies to obtain significant battery life improvements through this method. Security risks. In this context, how to improve the energy efficiency of electric vehicles and reduce energy consumption has become another idea for the industry to improve the endurance of electric vehicles. At present, Tesla is the first to use silicon carbide semiconductors in the drive system electronic control units of the Model 3 and the new Model S and Model X, and has brought excellent energy performance. Bosch may just see the long-term development prospects of silicon carbide semiconductors, so it began to focus on the development of silicon carbide semiconductors, but it also has the problem of excessive manufacturing costs, which needs to be resolved by manufacturers.