After several years of development, Bosch starts large-scale production of power semiconductors made of silicon carbide. The automotive supplier announced this in a press release. The chips should therefore be used in more and more series vehicles in the future. “We want to become the world leader in the production of SiC chips for electromobility,” says Bosch board member Harald KrOger. Two years ago, the company announced that it would advance the development of SiC chips and start production.
“Our order books are full. The reason is the booming electromobility,” KrOger continues. In the future, Bosch intends to increase the production capacity of SiC semiconductors to a number in the hundreds of millions. According to the company, the company is already expanding its clean room area in the Reutlingen plant. In parallel, work is also being done on the second generation of SiC chips. It should be ready for series production from 2022 and continue to increase in efficiency.
According to the announcement, Bosch is receiving support in the development of the innovative manufacturing processes for the SiC semiconductors from the Federal Ministry of Economics. According to Acting Minister Peter Altmaier, the highly innovative semiconductor production is a further step towards greater independence in this central field of digitization.
The demand for silicon carbide power semiconductors is increasing worldwide. In the power electronics of electric vehicles, these chips ensure that drivers can drive significantly further with one battery charge – on average around six percent compared to their silicon counterparts. The secret lies in a tiny carbon atom. It is introduced into the crystal structure of the high-purity silicon otherwise used for the production of semiconductors and gives the raw material special physical properties.
According to Bosch, silicon carbide semiconductors enable higher switching frequencies compared to silicon chips. In addition, only half as much energy is lost in the form of heat, which means that the range of electric cars can be increased. The chips are also important for 800 volt systems. There they enable faster charging and more performance. Since the SiC chips also emit significantly less heat, the costly cooling of the power electronics can also be reduced. In addition to reducing the weight, this can also reduce the costs of electric vehicles. In the future, Bosch will supply power semiconductors made of silicon carbide to customers all over the world – both as individual chips and built into power electronics or complete solutions such as the e-axle.
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Manufacturing your own semiconductors is a development that would have come again even without the chip crisis of the last few months. After all, you shouldn’t hand over too much added value. Such a production is not personnel-intensive, but unfortunately energy-intensive. But you can not have it all.
It’s nice that people in Germany are at least still capable of learning.
The plan to buy everything possible cheaply from Chinese suppliers has also fallen on the feet of the German OEMs when it comes to batteries.
And now the price question:
Which automaker is most vertically integrated, David?
Spoiler alert: it’s not Porsche 😉
After all, Germany is still capable of learning – if the old OEMs buy cheaply from suppliers in China, then you don’t have to be surprised if it falls on your feet at some point – see battery production.
Vertical integration is key !
Fun question for David: who is the leader here in the automotive industry?
Spoiler alert: it’s not Porsche