Freescale, Fuji Join Forces to Make Green Cars More Energy-Efficient

As conflict in the Middle East pushes U.S. oil prices ever-closer to $4 a gallon, hybrid and electric cars are looking increasingly attractive to consumers and manufacturers. In line with that trend, on April 11, Austin-based Freescale Semiconductor and Tokyo-based Fuji Electric Systems Co., Ltd., announced that they are collaborating on technology that will boost the energy efficiency of hybrid electronic vehicles (HEVs) such as the Chevrolet Volt and the Toyota Prius; and of all-electric vehicles (EVs) such as the Nissan Leaf, and the Ford Focus EV and Tesla Model S, both due out later this year.

Hybrid cars are fueled by gasoline, and use a battery and motor to improve efficiency. Electric cars are powered exclusively by electricity. To date, EVs have not achieved widespread popularity because they can only drive a limited distance (about 100 miles) before they must be recharged. However, that’s changing, as battery technology improves—simultaneously increasing energy storage and reducing cost.

Freescale (News - Alert) and Fuji are working on a type of semiconductor used for powertrains for hybrid and electric cars. The insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) —a  semiconductor known for high efficiency and fast switching—will convert alternating current (AC) control signals to the current needed to turn the electric motor.  

The combination of fast switching and high efficiency makes IGBTs  “ideal,” Freescale said, for use in electric vehicle motors ranging from 20 kilowatts (KW) to 120KW—adding  that, with a more efficient IGBT, a hybrid or electric car will lose less power as wasted heat. Under the terms of their deal, Freescale will add IGBT products from Fuji to its product portfolio, market them to automakers, and develop other products for green cars down the road. 

In a mid-range vehicle sold in the United States, electronics make up 20 percent to 30 percent of the car’s cost, facilitating stability control, navigation, and transmission and engine management, according to Freescale Global Automotive Marketing Manager Steve Nelson, who was interviewed last year by GigaOM Pro (subscription required). Hybrid vehicles, with their regenerative braking and start-stop systems designed to reduce fuel consumption, “have substantially higher semiconductor content compared to regular passenger cars,” according to the research firm Frost & Sullivan. The Volt, a plug-in hybrid car, uses 10 million lines of software code and 100 electronic controllers, and each Volt on the road has its own IP address. All-electric vehicles have even higher semiconductor content

"This alliance will enable our IGBT [semiconductor] technology to contribute to the increased efficiency of electric vehicles." said Kuniaki Yanagisawa, Fuji Electric Systems corporate vice president and general manager of the Semiconductors Group. Fuji has made it a goal to expand use of the company’s IGBTs in hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as renewable energy, reaching beyond the industrial sector that currently makes up the bulk of its IGBT business. 

"Freescale chose Fuji Electric's IGBT technology based on its high-performance characteristics and capability," stated Tom Deitrich, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale's RF, Analog and Sensors Group.

According to Freescale, IGBTs make up the largest segment of the market for electric vehicle power systems. They’re also the final piece of the puzzle for the chipmaker’s EV system portfolio. The company says this latest deal with Fuji means it can now “offer all of the major electronic components of EV systems,” including microcontrollers, analog gate drivers, battery monitoring integrated circuits, power IGBTs, modeling and simulation tools, and software tools for motor control development.