According to statistics from the China Passenger Car Association, in 2022, the retail sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 5.674 million units, a year-on-year increase of 90%; The rapid growth of retail sales has also driven a continuous increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, reaching 27.6%, an increase of over 12 percentage points compared to 2021.http://www.ic-bom.com/
However, the development of new energy vehicles is still constrained by driving range, charging time, and battery capacity, which is an important issue that the industry urgently needs to solve. Silicon carbide can meet the application needs under conditions such as high temperature, high pressure, high frequency, and high power, thereby solving the mileage and charging anxiety of new energy vehicles. Automotive power semiconductors have also become the most effective field for silicon carbide and the largest downstream application market for this material. However, the vehicle specification level has high requirements for products, and currently international and domestic enterprises are at different stages of development.
Guoxing Optoelectronics believes that international leading manufacturers have technological accumulation advantages in the semiconductor industry. To break through, domestic SiC needs to achieve large-scale production and application. It is predicted that domestic manufacturers are expected to catch up with international manufacturers‘ technological level within 3-5 years to support large-scale production.
It is reported that Guoxing Optoelectronics has launched multiple SiC products for fields such as photovoltaic, energy storage, consumer power supply, industrial power supply, power grid, new energy vehicles, and charging piles, including
SiC SBD with TO-247-2 packaging and SiC MOSFET discrete devices with TO-247-3/4 packaging; NS62m, NSEAS series packaged SiC MOSFET power modules.
Xinta Electronics pointed out that the domestic silicon carbide industry chain is actively expanding production, but production capacity has not yet been truly released on a large scale, and there is still a gap between production capacity and overseas giants. The domestic silicon carbide industry needs to rely on the cooperation and deep coordination of the entire domestic industry chain in order to better compete with overseas giants.http://www.ic-bom.com/
Specifically, in the automotive market, Xinta Electronics stated that multiple domestic silicon carbide manufacturers plan to provide silicon carbide MOSFETs to the market in the next two years. The overall process capability of the industry has improved, and the overall competitiveness of the domestic silicon carbide industry will continue to improve. The gap with international major manufacturers is narrowing, which is a positive news.
However, Core Tower Electronics also pointed out that there are significant challenges in the development of silicon carbide at present. On the one hand, with the continuous growth of the electric vehicle market, the layout of 800V high-voltage platform models and high-voltage fast charging networks is accelerating, which poses higher challenges to silicon carbide enterprises; On the other hand, the global economic uncertainty risks brought about by the fluctuations in the international macroeconomic and political situation in 2023 have intensified, and supply chain security is related to the sustainable development of the industry, which is a pressure and challenge faced by the entire industry.
At present, Xinta Electronics has accumulated hundreds of high-quality customer resources in the fields of photovoltaic and industrial power supply. SiC MOSFET has successfully introduced multiple leading customers in the fields of new energy vehicles, photovoltaic, energy storage, charging piles, high-end power supply, and other fields. In addition, its automotive grade silicon carbide module industry has been completed and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.
Tyco Tianrun pointed out that the delivery time of foreign car grade SiC products is currently severe, and the yield of SIC MOSFETs is not high. International friends prioritize the delivery of large customer orders, resulting in a shortage of domestic downstream supply, coupled with a complex international situation, leading to an acceleration of domestic substitution. Early foreign friends and local customers who held a wait-and-see attitude towards domestic manufacturers also began to adopt an open attitude and communicate with domestic manufacturers. In this context, domestic enterprises should focus on improving cost-effectiveness, enhancing core competitiveness, and producing products with stable yield in bulk.http://www.ic-bom.com/
At present, Tyco Tianrun has multiple models of products applied in the automotive electronics industry for OBC, DCDC and other automotive power supplies. The subsequent 6-inch and 8-inch cables under construction will also be oriented towards the automotive market, enriching the silicon carbide MOSFET series. It is reported that the company expects to launch various models of products for 650V/1200V/1700V SiC MOS in 2023.
In addition, the production line of basic semiconductor car grade silicon carbide chips officially opened on April 24th; The core Yueneng silicon carbide chip manufacturing project is expected to enter mass production in the second half of this year; The second phase production line of Zhixin Semiconductor officially started on May 18th; IGBT modules and chips from companies such as BYD Semiconductor, Star Semiconductor, Time Electric, and Shilan Microelectronics have started to be launched, and domestic silicon carbide manufacturers have provided leading samples for automotive applications.http://www.ic-bom.com/
Internationally, Rom mass-produced SiC MOSFETs in 2010. In the automotive field, Rom launched car products that support AEC-Q101 certification in 2012 and has a high market share in the field of car chargers (OBCs). In addition, Roma silicon carbide products are also applied in fields such as in vehicle DC/DC converters.
In 2018, Rom opened the "Power Lab" in Dusself, Germany, helping numerous manufacturers in the automotive and industrial equipment fields improve their design efficiency; In June 2020, Rom released the industry‘s advanced 4th generation low conduction impedance silicon carbide MOSFET, which successfully achieved ultra-high levels of low conduction resistance in the industry without sacrificing short-circuit withstand time.http://www.ic-bom.com/
Rom also collaborated with multiple companies to develop automotive grade SiC technology, such as establishing silicon carbide joint laboratories with BAIC New Energy, United Automotive Electronics, and Zhenqu Technology; Signed a development cooperation agreement with Weipai Technology on electric vehicle power electronics technology and became its preferred supplier of silicon carbide technology; Signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Geely, concluding a strategic partnership with silicon carbide as the core; Establishing a joint venture company with Zhenghai Group for silicon carbide power modules, Heimshiko; Certified by UAES (United Electronics) as the preferred supplier of silicon carbide power device solutions, the product is used for inverters.
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In addition, Wolfspeed has reached strategic cooperation agreements with Mercedes Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, General Motors, etc; Ansemy is considering investing $2 billion to increase the production of silicon carbide chips, with the goal of occupying a 40% share of the silicon carbide automotive chip market by 2027; Infineon and Stellantis have signed a non binding memorandum of understanding to provide them with a multi-year silicon carbide half.
