Sic Will be Employed to Replace Silicon in Electric Vehicle

According to American Lux prediction, wide band gap semiconductor materials like silicon carbide and gallium nitride are the best materials to improve electric vehicle performance. Silicon carbide will take place of silicon material in 2020.

When silicon material is striving for higher performance standard, wide band gap semiconductor materials has already begun to benefit. According to a Lux report, high-efficient electric & electronic system is the key to lower down battery size and influence wire, thermal management, packaging and electric vehicle weight. For electric & electronic module, increasing consumption has also offered extra opportunities such as entertainment information program and indicator, which make electric & electronic devices in a vehicle double.

When saving 2% electric energy, if battery cost declines to lower than 250dollars per kilowatt hour, silicon carbide electric appliance is the only feasible approach. While for plug-in electric vehicle, electric energy conservation can at least reach 5%.

Silicon carbide device maturity is higher than that of gallium nitride, based on current technology maturity, it will realize commercialization in a short time. Silicon carbide device is expected to be applied in electric vehicle field before 2020.

According to iAbrasive, America, Japan and British have all invested in R & D of electric & electronic device. The U.S. Department of Energy “Advanced Electric & Electronic” project 2014 has invested 69 million dollars; Japanese government has also co-invested with Toyota, Honda and Nissan as well as university research projects.