NXP and ZF are working on SiC-based traction inverters

Electric mobility NXP and ZF are working on SiC-based traction inverters

2024-06-05 Source: Press release | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

Related Vendors

NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH

ZF Friedrichshafen AG Friedrichshafen

FAULHABER Drive Systems

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

NXP and ZF are jointly developing new silicon carbide-based traction inverter solutions for electric vehicles. Powerful traction inverters contribute to a high range of electric vehicles, can reduce the number of charging stops and lower system-level costs for car manufacturers.

Together, ZF and NXP aim to provide safe, sustainable and energy-efficient electric vehicles.(Image: NXP) — Together, ZF and NXP aim to provide safe, sustainable and energy-efficient electric vehicles.
(Image: NXP)

Traction inverters play an important role in the electric drive train of a vehicle: they convert the direct voltage from the battery into a time-dependent alternating voltage that drives the electric motor of the electric vehicle. As traction inverters are increasingly being converted to silicon carbide-based designs (SiC), the SiC power components have to be combined with isolated high-voltage gate drivers. This allows higher switching frequencies and lower conduction losses to be achieved compared to silicon-based IGBT and MOSFET power switches. The combination also enables better thermal characteristics and greater robustness at high voltages.

HV-Gate-Driver

At this point, NXP comes into play with the GD316x product family. The isolated high-voltage gate driver series includes a range of programmable control, diagnostic, monitoring, and protection functions. These have been improved for driving new SiC power modules for automotive traction inverter applications. The high degree of integration reduces space requirements and simplifies system design. The functions reduce electromagnetic noise and interference signals while at the same time reducing switching energy losses in favor of better efficiency. The combination of fast short-circuit protection times (< 1 µsec) and powerful and programmable gate-drive schemes optimizes the performance of the SiC power modules in the traction inverter.

ZF's traction inverters with gate drivers from NXP's GD316x family are already in use on the road.

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