The CIAS2024 Power Semiconductor New Energy Innovation and Development Conference and CIAShow International Power Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Innovation Exhibition were successfully held at Suzhou Shishan International Conference Center from April 23 to 24. As China's leading third-generation semiconductor supplier, APS was invited to attend the conference, and Yuan Jian, deputy director of product marketing, shared a speech on "The Application of APS Silicon Carbide Devices in the New Energy Market" with the participants.

In his speech, Mr. Yuan Jian first introduced the current booming market for new energy vehicle main drive inverters. With the continued rise in global demand for green energy and the continuous breakthroughs in electric vehicle technology, the main drive inverter market for new energy vehicles is booming at an unprecedented rate. Among this, advanced semiconductor technologies represented by silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET and its application in 800V models stand out particularly. Market data shows that the penetration rate of silicon carbide devices is gradually increasing, indicating that its core position in the new energy vehicle industry is increasingly consolidated.

Mr. Yuan Jian further listed the dynamics of major brands in the market, including Tesla, BYD, NIO, Xpeng and Geely, etc. These brands have played an important role in promoting the technological advancement and market expansion of new energy vehicles, and have adopted silicon carbide devices to varying degrees to achieve higher efficiency, better performance, and longer driving range.

When discussing the application of silicon carbide in the main drive power module, Mr. Yuan Jian emphasized that silicon carbide devices are accelerating their penetration into low- and medium-priced models. He cited data to point out that the application of silicon carbide has gradually expanded to models below RMB 250,000 in China’s new energy insured passenger cars. In addition to Tesla, brands such as BYD, Geely, NIO, and Xpeng have all launched models equipped with silicon carbide devices, and the lineup is constantly growing. New brands such as IM Motors, Wenjie M9, and Li Auto have also followed suit, showing the trend of silicon carbide being widely accepted in the new energy vehicle market.

Regarding future market trends, Mr. Yuan Jian predicts that the market penetration rate of the 800V platform will show a steady upward trend, and expects that its share will reach 13% by 2025. This change will undoubtedly further expand the application scale of silicon carbide. At the same time, the market structure of on-board chargers (OBCs) is also changing. Although 6.6KW is currently the mainstream and is expected to maintain a market share of about 57.2% by 2025, the market share of 11KW OBCs will increase each year and is expected to increase from 9% to 18%, reflecting the increasing demand of consumers for fast charging.

The new energy vehicle market is undoubtedly the main incremental area for silicon carbide applications. Its share is expected to exceed 75% and continue to rise in the future. This judgment is based on the strict requirements of new energy vehicles for performance indicators such as high efficiency, high power density, and low loss, as well as the significant advantages of silicon carbide devices in meeting these requirements.

As a leading domestic third-generation semiconductor supplier, Feizhen Semiconductor is gradually becoming the focus of attention in the field of automotive OBC (on-board charger) and DC (direct current converter) with its outstanding thermal conductivity, high hardness and excellent chemical stability.

In the application cases of vehicle-mounted OBC, APS's silicon carbide products, with their excellent high-temperature performance and high reliability, ensure that the charger can still operate stably in complex and changing working environments. In addition, its excellent conductivity also greatly improves the charging efficiency, bringing a more convenient user experience to electric car owners.

In the application of DCDC, the low RdsoN temperature drift coefficient and strong robustness of APS's silicon carbide products enable the DC converter to maintain high performance stability under long-term and high-load operation. At the same time, its low switching loss also effectively reduces the thermal stress generated by the converter during operation, improving the reliability and service life of the product.

In the 400V/800V main drive market, APS's silicon carbide product promotion and experience in verification is also worth sharing. Faced with the stringent requirements of the high-voltage drive system, APS's silicon carbide products find a balance point in various indicators and performance to meet the requirements of the actual working conditions of the main drive motor. It provides a strong guarantee for the stable operation of the high-voltage drive system. APS’s silicon carbide MOSFET has been supplied in batches to leading companies in vehicle power supplies.

APS will continue to pay attention to and actively respond to market changes, and is committed to providing more efficient and reliable silicon carbide solutions for the new energy vehicle industry chain, helping the industry move towards a new era of green and intelligence.