The electric vehicle (EV) market is expected to jump from 3.2 million units in 2019 to nearly 27 million units by the year 2030. Major players in this industry are expected to invest more than $350 billion in the near future to grow the electric vehicle market.
Wolfspeed understands the technological challenges that EVs present for engineers, especially when it comes to power and EV charging solutions.
A Charging Problem
While electric vehicles are becoming more commonplace, many consumers continue to have concerns about range and charging capabilities. For decades, the consumer driving experience has been powered by fossil fuels, and refueling meant a quick stop at the gas station to top off the tank. The prospect of a lengthy charging process to keep your car traveling down the road is a massive deterrent.
Enter On-Board Battery Chargers
On-board battery chargers are the key to keeping EVs powered—they take AC current from the charger unit and convert it to DC power to recharge the battery. They are also often capable of harvesting kinetic energy from the vehicle itself to provide additional charge. But traditional silicon has made these systems very limited in both their output and speed.
Wolfspeed is changing that.
A New Level of OBC Capability, Powered by Wolfspeed SiC
Traditional silicon has limitations, particularly when it comes to high-power applications like those of on-board charging (OBC) systems. But Wolfspeed silicon carbide (SiC) is uniquely capable of handling higher voltages and taking on even the most challenging of power applications.
Through Wolfspeed SiC, automotive innovators can realize:
- Up to 30% lower losses
- Up to 50% greater power density
- Up to 30% fewer components, leading to lower overall system cost and reduced vehicle weight
Wolfspeed silicon carbide also maximizes the potential of both unidirectional and bidirectional OBC capabilities. This means automotive manufacturers can design systems that can both receive energy from the grid and give it back, helping to stabilize the electrical grids of the future and create a more sustainable growth path for tomorrow’s EVs.
Wolfspeed EV Products Built to Support OBCs
Wolfspeed products represent the culmination of years of experience and expertise, where quality meets innovation to help bring your design forward:
Reference Designs to Accelerate Your Engineering Pipeline
Wolfspeed not only offers the solutions to bring your design into the future of automotive technology, but our reference designs can help you accelerate your design cycle process. Wolfspeed’s 6.6 kW Bi-Direction On-Board Charger reference design showcases:
- Full system design resource package with schematics, BOM, and more
- Wolfspeed 650 V 60 mΩ C3M SiC MOSFETs
- Higher efficiency and higher power density than Si solution
- High operating frequency significantly reduce the magnetics size and weight—system size and cost benefits
Wolfspeed: Disruptive by Design
From its inception, Wolfspeed has been focused on the future, and that silicon carbide power is the technology that can bring your business forward.
Wolfspeed has more 30 years of experience in silicon carbide power and 7+ trillion installed field hours. We have invested in the future of silicon carbide technology and are expanding our capacity thirty-fold by 2024 to support your business’s growth. With more than 17 years of diode and MOSFET production, we are equipped to supply the components that will build up OBCs for the future of automotive tech.
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