- There will be a joint R&D effort to develop an EV inverter based on gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology
- The companies said that gallium nitride semiconductors are crucial to improve the efficiency and performance of electrified vehicles, from hybrid up to full electric applications
Automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG and gallium nitride (GaN) devices provider VisIC Technologies have joined hands to create the next generation of high-performance and high-efficiency electric drivelines for vehicles. Through their extended R&D partnership, ZF and VisIC will put their joint efforts in the application of gallium nitride semiconductors for inverters
They said that the partnership will see them deepening their development efforts, based on VisIC D3GaN semiconductors technology. It will focus on 400-Volt driveline applications. This covers the largest segment of the electric vehicle market.
Tamara Baksht, CEO of VisIC said, “Our partnership with ZF for the development of gallium nitride-based power inverters in electric vehicles illustrates the break-through of gallium nitride technology in the automotive industry. VisIC’s D3GaN technology was developed for the high-reliability standards of the automotive industry and offers the lowest losses per Rdson. It also simplifies the system solution and enables high-efficiency and affordable power train solutions. It is definitely the next step for the automotive electrical driveline.”
Better switching speed, range improvements
The companies said that gallium nitride semiconductors are crucial to improve the efficiency and performance of electrified vehicles, from hybrid up to full electric applications. It provides better switching speed, range improvements, smaller and lighter package size. This reduces the total system cost.
Dr. Dirk Walliser, senior vice president corporate research and development at ZF Friedrichshafen AG said, “We are pleased about the cooperation with VisIC and are convinced that together we can further improve future electric drive systems based on gallium nitride technology.”
