“Under the unanimous goal of achieving carbon neutrality globally, the promotion and popularization of vehicle electrification and intelligence is expected, but behind the promotion, power consumption will also increase accordingly, and the consumption of power resources will be accelerated.
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Under the unanimous goal of achieving carbon neutrality globally, the promotion and popularization of vehicle electrification and intelligence is expected, but behind the promotion, power consumption will also increase accordingly, and the consumption of power resources will be accelerated.
DENSO has been focusing on energy management while promoting the electrification of mobility with limited power resources, improving power efficiency, reducing power consumption, and reducing power consumption. The key to electrification lies in the “power semiconductors” that process electricity.
In the field of mobility, semiconductors are used in a variety of scenarios. For example, sensors used in basic functions including “driving” and “turning” to detect images inside and outside the car, distance, and system status, as well as chips and processors that perform “judgment” in autonomous driving, are inseparable from semiconductors. The power semiconductor is the core part of the on-board semiconductor of the electric vehicle, which controls the high-intensity power and voltage used to drive the vehicle.
In the advancement of the new four modernizations of automobiles, automotive semiconductors have become more important. It can be said that the development of semiconductors promotes the development of mobile travel. Just as the CPU determines the performance of a computer, the performance of future mobility will also be determined by on-board semiconductors. However, semiconductors used in mobility cannot be put into use just because they have good performance.
This is because parts used for mobility must be able to withstand high voltages and currents, work uninterrupted even under extreme temperature differences from -40°C to 125°C, high humidity, and severe vibration and shock, even All this places high demands on the performance and toughness of semiconductors to cope with the unpredictable usage scenarios that may arise in high-intensity and new mobility such as commercial trucks and eVTOLs (air vehicles).
Denso has developed and cultivated SiC (Silicon Carbide) in order to develop semiconductors that meet the above requirements, overcome the weaknesses of SiC raw materials, and developed high-quality and tough SiC power semiconductors, which can be installed in converters than those equipped with conventional power. The volume of the semiconductor is reduced by about 60%, and the power loss is reduced by about 70%, thereby realizing the miniaturization of the product and improving the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
In fact, Denso’s automotive semiconductor plan can be traced back to the early 1960s. At that time, Denso found that it was difficult for the semiconductors purchased from the market to meet the automotive standards.
To meet the standards for in-vehicle use, Denso continues to develop semiconductor technologies that are not yet available on the market. In 2003, Denso split the department that has been engaged in automotive semiconductor research and established a team to develop power semiconductors in an all-round way, and continued to cultivate the toughness and ease of use of SiC materials. Based on the comprehensive strength that has been developing from the manufacture of miniaturized semiconductor chips to mobile systems, Denso has realized the practical application and commercialization of SiC power semiconductors. TOYOTA MIRAI, which was launched on December 9, 2020, also adopted this technology.
Denso believes that there are still many possibilities for SiC power semiconductors in the future. For example, when applied to power supply while driving, it can greatly reduce the size of the power supply system and improve the power supply efficiency; it can also be used in fields other than mobility, such as in promoting the society of smart cities. Among them, the intelligence and digitization of outdoor infrastructure equipment also have high requirements on the toughness of semiconductors.
In the future, DENSO will respond to the ever-increasing future of power demand by popularizing its own developed power semiconductors, continue to aim at promoting social “change” with innovative technologies, continue to promote the development of comprehensive technologies, and contribute to the further realization of a low-carbon society.
DENSO company introduction
Denso is one of the world’s leading auto parts manufacturers. Ranked 244th in the 2021 Fortune Global 500 companies released by the US “Fortune” magazine. Today, DENSO has about 200 affiliated companies in more than 30 countries and regions around the world, and the group employs about 170,000 people. DENSO (China) Investment Co., Ltd., the general company of DENSO in China, was established in 2003 and currently has a total of 37 affiliated companies including production companies, sales companies and software development companies in China, with about 17,000 employees. , and established a perfect sales, after-sales service and production supply system.
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