To meet anticipated demand, Cree is building the world’s largest SiC fab which is slated to enter production next year.īob Daigle’s firm, Rogers Corporation, has packaged silicon for decades and foresees SiC-based power ICs shrinking the size of EV battery inverters by roughly 50 percent and increasing system power efficiency to nearly 99 percent. Like EVs, SiC chips are at the beginning of a five-year “S-curve” adoption rate that is signaling a dramatic technology transition, according to Cree’s Gregg Lowe. In comparison, SiC and gallium nitride (GaN) compound semiconductors are projected to grow from approximately $977 million to $4 billion over the same period, a 10X faster growth rate. Using revenue forecasts from Yole Développement, the power device market generates about $18 billion in revenue today and is expected to grow to $23 billion in 2025-a four percent CAGR. I was joined on the panel by Canaccord analyst Jed Dorsheimer and chip industry veterans Gregg Lowe, CEO of Cree, Bob Daigle, CTO of Rogers Corporation, and my colleague Rob Davenport, director of strategic marketing at Applied Materials.Ī recurring and resonant theme was the increasing prominence of power semiconductors and the significant technological and economic advances that will be felt for decades to come. I elaborated on this earlier in the year during a fascinating panel discussion titled, “Rethinking Semiconductors,” held during Canaccord Genuity’s virtual Global Sustainability Conference. Replacing IGBTs with SiC saves energy, increases battery life and reduces the size and weight of the heat management system-which further increases EV range. This is where SiC can become advantageous due to its faster switching speeds and recovery characteristics. The electric motor used to turn the wheels of an EV is typically powered by six silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and diodes using a drive technique called pulse width modulation (PWM). Volvo plans to sell only electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030, at which time BMW and Volkswagen expect, respectively, that 50 percent and 70 percent of their European sales will be EVs.Īt the heart of this monumental change are power semiconductors, which themselves are undergoing a sea change as the industry begins to orchestrate a shift from silicon to silicon carbide (SiC). Nissan will electrify all models by the early 2030s. The whole automotive industry is transforming, and commitments are being publicly announced by the world’s leading automotive manufacturers. Electrification of vehicles is being driven by regulations and countries phasing out the internal combustion engine and looking toward a cleaner, more sustainable future. We are in the midst of the biggest revolution in transportation since Henry Ford rolled out the first production Model T in 1908.