It’s no secret electric vehicles (EVs) are at a crossroads — while demand varies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts 17 million EVs will be sold by the end of this year. That number translates to a more than 20% year-over-year increase from 2023, representing continued, steady growth in the industry.
Silicon-carbide technology is proving indispensable to many EV manufacturers, enhancing vehicle performance, as well as increasing efficiency, range, and charging speed.
EVs & SiCs: A match written in the stars
While the issue of increased charging infrastructure must be addressed, there’s a way to ease drivers’ range anxiety, and it’s at the semiconductor level: silicon carbide (SiC). Although the material can be synthesized, the only naturally occurring SiC is moissanite, resulting from meteorite impacts — literally, stardust. Its use as a semiconductor only began in the last few decades, and now, SiC, a material billions of years old, is at the forefront of innovations.
Because of this, you might say SiC and EVs are a match written in the stars. With SiC’s ability to withstand electrical fields up to ten times higher than silicon can withstand, it’s an ideal fit for power applications, such as those in EVs. In particular, SiC switching devices offer higher thermal dissipation and lower power conduction losses.
Increasing range and efficiency
Using SiC in an EV’s inverter can increase range by up to 10%. Because it allows for higher power densities, SiC enables a decrease in the size and weight of the power electronic systems, which then contributes to a lighter vehicle overall. Due to its reduced weight, this can result in a longer battery range per charge.
Once this battery runs down, SiC can also help get drivers back on the road more quickly. It’s enabling an efficient transition to higher bus voltage (800 instead of 400 V), enabling faster EV charging times.
Recently, researchers at North Carolina State University employed SiC in their construction of an EV charger that is 10 times smaller and 60% more efficient than existing systems. They dubbed this a medium-voltage fast charger (MVFC). The researchers noted that SiC semiconductor devices were one of the keys to making this charging technology smaller and more efficient than its predecessors.
SiC in EV converters
SiC’s electrical properties also make it best-in-class for ac/dc electronic converters because they enable high-density power electronic devices. This includes an EV’s powertrain, which consists of a battery (dc), traction motors (ac), and an electronic converter (dc/ac).
SiC is used in many EV converters because the converter’s efficiency enables an EV to have a longer range and faster charging time. These benefits can be taken further, thanks to a newly engineered substrate. The substrates use ten times less SiC while enhancing performance by over 20%, leading to power devices that lower emissions, increase efficiency, and perform superiorly.
Newly engineered SiC substrate technology significantly enhances the performance of power electronics and boosts the efficiency of electric vehicles. The technology consists of bonding a thin layer of high quality SiC to a low resistivity polySiC wafer.
Tesla helped spur the adoption of SiC in EVs when it used the material in the converter in its original Model 3, which was released in 2018. Other EV manufacturers have since adopted SiC, and that momentum is only expected to increase in the EV industry. According to emerging technology market research firm IDTechEx, SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are expected to have a 27% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) by 2033, and the technology is expected to capture more than half the EV inverter market by that time.
Sustainability impact
The transportation sector represents 28% of overall annual energy consumption in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Thus, the efficiency gains SiC enables will majorly impact emission reduction efforts as cost savings. The new SiC substrates offer EV benefits, including a more cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly manufacturing process — saving 40,000 tons of CO2 for every million wafers produced. This means there are sustainability benefits from the beginning of the wafer and throughout its lifetime in an EV.
Overall, EVs are a significant part of the energy transition and the world’s push to decarbonize. Silicon carbide will continue to be a vital part of that push as the automotive industry moves away from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles as part of technological innovations and ways to attract new buyers and spur EV adoption.
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