Electric Vehicle range anxiety is basically charging anxiety
Oil car on the highway 40 every second kilometer there is a gas station, refueling time of 5 minutes, this is the bottom of the oil car has no range anxiety.
Electric car range 1000 kilometers and range 500 kilometers, as long as charging is not convenient, charging time is long, there will be range anxiety, and the popularization of EV car charging station facilities as well as the realization of fast charging.
The popularization of EV charging stations facilities and the realization of fast charging to shorten the charging time is the only way to solve the charging anxiety on the one hand, the fuel car stop selling for the popularization of the Electric Vehicle, the other hand, the charging is not convenient enough.
On the other hand, the lack of convenient charging is still the fatal drawback of EV range. Car companies have the ability to build cars with a range of 1000 kilometers, the popularization of evse charging station facilities depends on infrastructure and capital investment, while high-voltage fast charging relies on technological breakthroughs, so high-voltage fast charging has become the only way to popularize EV.
Therefore, high-voltage fast charging has become a bottleneck problem for the EV’s breakthrough.
General Introduction
At present, mainstream automobile enterprises have laid out high-voltage fast charging EV models, and it is expected that more than half of the sales of high-voltage models above 800V will be sold in 2026. In order to adapt to the future development trend of high power and high voltage fast charging, mainstream automobile enterprises and charging operators have started to lay out high power fast charging stacks. However, high-voltage fast charging places higher demands on the efficiency and safety of charging stacks, and it is urgent to introduce new equipment that is more resistant to high voltage, high temperature and safety in terms of equipment.
Silicon carbide has outstanding advantages over traditional silicon materials, bringing new opportunities for the development of high-voltage fast-charging stations
Silicon carbide is a third-generation semiconductor material with outstanding advantages, including a large bandwidth, high electron mobility, high breakdown voltage, and high thermal conductivity.
The use of silicon carbide devices can effectively address the urgent need for high-voltage, high-temperature resistant, and safe ev charging stations equipment under the trend of high-voltage fast charging. This can reduce costs and increase efficiency to achieve rapid charging of electric vehicles.
Compared to traditional silicon-based devices, silicon carbide modules can increase the ev car charging station’s output power by almost 30% and reduce losses by up to 50%. Additionally, the anti-radiation characteristics of silicon carbide devices can enhance the vehicle charging stations’s stability.
SiC can effectively improve unit power density, reduce module size, and simplify circuit design, which reduces the cost of ev charging stations products.
However, SiC is still in the introduction stage in the ev car charging station market, and the penetration rate of SiC in the charging module of DC charging station will only be 17% in 2021. By 2025, it is expected that SiC will have a penetration rate of 35% in China’s EVSE charger industry.
The combination of ‘SiC’ and ‘800V’ has become a new energy vehicle and EVSE charging station enterprise hotspot under the background of high-voltage fast charging.
As costs decrease, the penetration rate of SiC in the EV Charging market is expected to increase even further and at a faster rate than the vehicle market.
Silicon carbide is widely used in various power equipment due to its excellent performance at high voltages.
It has ideal application prospects in new energy vehicles, photovoltaic inverters, and other industries.
In the future, the market size for silicon carbide devices will have huge room for growth due to the new energy vehicles and photovoltaic industry high-voltage drive. This will result in greater application in the power equipment industry.
There are two ways to achieve fast charging: high voltage and high power.
Increasing the charging current and voltage allows for higher charging power, resulting in shorter charging times. This is based on the formula P=UI (power = voltage x current).
To increase the maximum charging current of a single battery cell, the material system and structure of the battery cell must be upgraded to reduce heat production and lithium precipitation during fast charging. This will help avoid safety issues such as thermal runaway.
Tesla Model 3, for example, can reach a maximum charging current of 700A, allowing for 80% power charging in just 31 minutes.
Additionally, the voltage of the battery system can be increased. As a representative of high-performance electric vehicles, Porsche has increased the voltage platform from 400V to 800V. With a maximum current of only 334A, it can charge from 5% to 80% in just 22.5 minutes.
This approach prioritizes efficiency by avoiding serious energy loss, low conversion efficiency, and excessive burden on the thermal management system.
Mainstream car companies layout high-voltage fast-charging models
In 2020, Porsche launched the Taycan, which supports 800V high-voltage fast charging. Since then, global automakers have accelerated the research and development of high-voltage fast-charging models, reducing the replenishment time to less than 10 minutes. GAC, Xiaopeng, BAIC, Dongfeng, Chang’an, and others have launched high-end cars based on 800V and above high-voltage platforms, with fast charging performance that can increase the range by about 200km in just 10 minutes.
For instance, BAE released the 6C ultra-fast charging system in April 2021. This system has a maximum voltage of 800V, a maximum current of over 500A, and charges from 0% to 80% SOC3 in just 8 minutes.
It is predicted that high-voltage models above 800V will account for more than half of sales by 2026.
Currently, 800V high-voltage models are the primary focus of car companies. By 2023, high-end models that meet 3C or higher high-voltage fast-charging standards will be extensively marketed.
As high-voltage fast-charging models continue to grow, more high-voltage fast-charging stations are being installed.
Huawei estimates that to achieve fast charging within 5 minutes, the EV charging stations’s power must evolve to 480kW.
Mainstream automobile companies and charging operators are increasingly installing high-power fast-charging stations.
The percentage of 80kw charging stations has decreased from 63% in 2020 to 37% in 2022, while the percentage of 160kw and 240kw charging stations has increased from 35% and 1% to 57% and 4%, respectively. Additionally, they have started to install 480kw high-power fast-charging stations.
High-voltage fast-charging stations face multiple challenges
The charging module must meet several requirements, including the ability to withstand higher voltages, dissipate heat and minimize energy loss under higher currents and switching frequencies, ensure safety and stability under harsh conditions, and meet cost control requirements from multiple parties involved in construction planning and operation. These challenges demand higher efficiency and safety standards for car charger. Therefore, there is an urgent need to adopt new equipment that is more resistant to high voltage, high temperature, and safety hazards.
silicon carbide industry
The silicon carbide industry chain includes upstream substrate and epitaxial production, midstream device and module manufacturing (including design, manufacturing, and testing), and downstream end applications.
The silicon carbide industry chain is highly valued, with the majority of its value concentrated in the upstream end. Specifically, substrate production accounts for 47% of the total cost, while epitaxial link accounts for 23%. In total, upstream costs make up approximately 70% of the total cost of silicon carbide production.
The manufacturing technology of the substrate presents the highest barriers and the greatest value among them. It determines the preparation method of upstream raw materials and related parameters, as well as the performance of downstream devices. This is the core of the future large-scale industrialization of silicon carbide.
Silicon carbide devices can be divided into two technology routes based on substrate type: semi-insulating and conductive.
Compared to traditional silicon material, silicon carbide offers several advantages, including
wide bandwidth characteristics, strong voltage tolerance, lower on-resistance, and higher power density.
It also has low energy loss, high switching frequency, and strong radiation resistance.
Additionally, it has high thermal conductivity, which improves heat dissipation, and its on-state resistance is more resistant to high temperatures. This simplifies the layout of components and promotes a lightweight system.
High Voltage Fast Charging Dependent on Silicon Carbide Material Modules
The charging module is the main component of a ev car charger and makes up approximately 50% of its total cost. Within the charging module, the semiconductor power device accounts for 30% of the cost, which is equivalent to about 15% of the total cost of the car charger. The use of silicon carbide devices can effectively address the urgent need for high-voltage, high-temperature resistant, and safe ev charging equipment under the trend of high-voltage fast charging. This can reduce costs and increase efficiency to achieve rapid charging of electric vehicles.
Silicon carbide has excellent performance, but balancing its high price and comprehensive income remains an important issue.
Silicon carbide devices offer numerous advantages, including high-voltage and high-temperature resistance, low energy loss, increased power density, and optimized heat dissipation. These characteristics can help reduce the overall cost of the system. Therefore, balancing the high cost of the silicon carbide device with its overall benefits to the system will be a major focus in the industry’s future development.
The use of large-size substrates has reduced the cost of silicon carbide substrates and epitaxy.
Currently, the market for silicon carbide substrates is shifting towards larger sizes, resulting in improved output and utilization rates. As large-diameter substrate mass production lines become more popular and products are replaced, the price of silicon carbide substrate is expected to further decline. This will lead to an accelerated rise in silicon carbide penetration.
Epitaxial links are generally obtained using chemical vapor deposition technology (CVD) to produce high-quality epitaxial layers on SiC substrates, which are then used in power device manufacturing. The cost of SiC epitaxial wafers is mainly determined by the cost of raw materials, specifically the substrate, which accounts for approximately 52%. As the price of silicon carbide substrate continues to decrease, it is expected that the price of silicon carbide epitaxial wafers will also decrease in the future.
The market penetration rate for new charging stations is still low despite the vast potential market.
Currently, silicon carbide (SiC) is still in the introductory stage in the EVSE charger market. According to CASA’s calculations, the penetration rate of SiC in the DC charging station’s charging module was only about 10% in 2018. Although it is expected to grow to 17% in 2021, the penetration rate of SiC in the new type of ev charging stations market remains low. With the rise of high-voltage fast charging, many ev charging manufacturers are researching and developing the use of silicon carbide in charging modules and related products. The combination of ‘SiC’ and ‘800V’ has become increasingly popular among new energy vehicle and charging station companies. It is expected that as the cost decreases and electric vehicles continue to improve their charging speed, the penetration rate of SiC in the electric battery charger market will increase further and faster than the vehicle market. By 2025, it is projected that the SiC penetration rate in China’s electric car charger industry will reach 35%.
