Do you need to know more about vehicle electrification?
The POWER UP webinars from Avnet Silica dive deep into the world of electric vehicles. Watch this series of free webinars to learn more about what’s involved with vehicle electrification and charging, including switching efficiency, EV power conversion and more.
Faster charging, better range and longer battery life are driving forces in vehicle electrification. The technologies used today are evolving to meet future demands. In the latest POWER UP webinar series, experts from Avnet Silica and leading suppliers discuss how they are addressing this.
We get under the hood to explain what’s happening in the areas that define the EV experience. This includes on-board chargers, DC/DC converters, traction inverters and much more.
Here’s what to expect from watching this series of free, on-demand webinars.
Improving switching efficiency in electric vehicle powertrains
STMicroelectronics Automotive Marketing Manager Michael Luett looks at switching efficiency. All types of electric vehicles store energy at very high voltages; in the region of 400V and, increasingly, 800V. Converting stored energy into motion involves DC/DC converters and traction inverters operating at megawatts.
Switching efficiency is a complex topic and very closely related to the power semiconductors used. ST’s Luett presents the positives and negatives of various power topologies in these applications. Luett also covers how to apply the latest products from ST that have been developed with these considerations in mind.
If you need to understand why silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are displacing silicon IGBTs in some of these applications, watch the ST webinar to find out.
Two related aspects of electric vehicle drivetrains are the high voltage inverter to electrify the motor, and some way of sensing how fast the motor is rotating. Renesas has turnkey solutions for both. Field Application Engineer Christian Koehler explains these in his webinar “IGBTs, Inductive Position Sensing and Wireless Charging.”
One of the advantages of providing the complete solution as a turnkey design is that engineers get high efficiencies out of the box. It also makes it much simpler and quicker for manufacturers to adopt the technology.
Key differentiators presented in the Renesas webinar are conduction losses and die size. The applications covered include 48V auxiliary inverter. This brings power MOSFETs into the discussion and Koehler goes into some detail about the low on-resistance and high current of the Renesas solutions.
The inductive position sensing (IPS) technology from Renesas operates without magnets and is tolerant to misalignment. The sensor becomes part of the PCB, which can be configured to the application. The technology is suited to being mounted on the end of the motor’s shaft, through the shaft or side-shaft configurations. Renesas explains that its IPS technology can be up to 10 times thinner than conventional position sensing, much lighter and provide high stray field immunity. Watch the Renesas webinar to learn more.
There are advantages and challenges associated with using SiC devices in EV applications. Qorvo explores these in its webinar. The focus is on the company’s SiC FETs and how the performance of its devices compares to Si superjunction and SiC MOS alternatives.
The presenter, Zhongda Li, describes why SiC FETs can increase efficiency in EV applications and shows how Qorvo’s FET-Jet Calculator tool can be used to compare different topologies and SiC FET options.
Taking a modular approach to EV power conversion
Paul Klausner is onsemi’s senior principal marketing manager, automotive, EMEA. In his webinar presentation, Klausner talks about automotive power module solutions from onsemi. The range now covers many applications, including 12V internal combustion engines, mild hybrids and high-voltage battery electric vehicles.
With more mechanical automotive functions now being electrified, such as pumps and cooling fans, the need for auxiliary power derived from high voltage sources is increasing. Klausner covers this and the solutions available.
The webinar also covers Level 1 and 2 (AC) charging, Level 3 (DC) charging, and the needs of the on-board and off-board charger systems. The technical presentation covers power levels from 3.6 kW to 22 kW and above. Common PFC topologies for charging are discussed, showing how output power relates to design complexity. Klausner then presents the solutions offered by onsemi to address each power/complexity point.
Microchip covers the fundamentals of on-board charging (OBC) in its webinar, presented by Principal Field Applications Engineer Greg Mann. The presenter then takes a deep dive into Microchip’s OBC evaluation platforms. It brings together the company’s SiC power stage with digital control based on its dsPIC. The software tools, which are increasingly essential, are also covered.
The final webinar in this series comes from integrated gallium nitride (GaN) supplier, Navitas. With a mission to electrify our world, Navitas is a leading supplier of GaN-based mobile chargers. It is now expanding into data centers, solar energy and EVs.
Alessandro Squeri, senior director for European sales within Navitas, acknowledges the design challenges associated with using GaN-based integrated circuits in high-power EV and new energy systems. He presents the company’s GaNFast architecture, designed to overcome these challenges.
The integrated GaN products presented deliver higher efficiency than discrete GaN and silicon alternatives. Squeri also describes the Navitas EV system design center, where it develops customized and productized solutions for customers.
The series of webinars from Avnet Silica dives deep into the technologies shaping the future of vehicle electrification. All webinars are available free and on demand. To find out more, click here.
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About Author
Philip Ling
Philip Ling is a senior technology writer with Avnet. He holds a post-graduate diploma in Advanced M...
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Do you need to know more about vehicle electrification | Avnet Silica
