Press Release

More energy efficiency in electric cars: Research network around IAV optimizes silicon carbide technology

"We want to increase unused potential in order to further increase the efficiency of SiC semiconductors and to make consistent and optimal use of the technology," says Thomas Orlik, Technical Consultant for the control of electrical drives at IAV. "By making better use of the components, even the constantly growing costs can be amortized in a reasonable way."

In so-called converters, which convert direct current from battery to alternating current for the electric machine, the use of silicon carbide ensures that significantly less energy evaporates in the form of heat in the power electronics.

The research project "SiC-Mobil", funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, aims to further increase the power density and efficiency of converters and thus contribute to greater efficiency in the mobile and stationary area of e-mobility. This can be achieved, for example, by means of a more compact dimensioning of filter and cooling components.

Consideration of service life effects and EMC

The partners of IAV in the three-year research project are FREQCON GmbH, BLOCK Transformatoren-Elektronik GmbH, Breuer Motoren GmbH & Co. KG and the University of Bremen with the Bremer Center for Mechatronics (BCM).

Influencing factors on the service life of power semiconductors are taken into account and monitored. At the same time, the effects of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) are included in the development.

"The use of SiC tends to lead to more electromagnetic interference," says David Hamann, Team Manager Engineering & Simulation at IAV. "We make sure that one can still secure EMC for such a new technology without losing the benefits of silicon carbide with disadvantages to packaging space and weight for possible filter."

Andreas Cremer

Carnotstraße 1, 10587 Berlin

T: +49 172 1902 092; M: presse@iav.de

About IAV:
With more than 8,000 employees, IAV is one of the world's leading engineering partners for the automotive industry. The company has been developing innovative concepts and technologies for future vehicles for more than 35 years, and in 2020 it sold around 896 million euros. Customers worldwide include all well-known automobile manufacturers and supplier. In addition to vehicle and drive development, IAV has already entered the e-mobility and autonomous driving at an early stage and is today one of the leading development service provider in these areas. In addition to the development centers in Berlin, Gifhorn and Chemnitz/Stollberg, IAV has other locations in Munich, Sindelfingen and Ingolstadt, as well as in Europe, Asia, North and South America.