Set micro network news, the current public charging pile has low charging power, uneven distribution and other pain points, it is difficult to meet the needs of users "rapid energy replenishment", the future in the highway, public charging field stations and other places, the development of high-power high-voltage fast charging is the key direction.
Looking back at 2021, the pain point problem of electric vehicles in the "replenishment" link will be upgraded and exploded in the process of further increasing the penetration rate of electric vehicles in 2022, becoming the focus of the industry's attention and will also be a link that the industry should focus on solving.
Peng Peng, vice president of Huawei's intelligent electric field, pointed out that high-power high-voltage fast charging can not only solve the problem of slow charging from the technical level, but also bring new business models to help charging operators improve the profitability per unit time, thus solving the problem of the current low return on investment of charging piles.
Looking forward to 2022, the car pile will accelerate the development in the direction of high-power high-voltage fast charging, in this process, due to the semiconductor supply chain crisis and card neck problem during the epidemic period, domestic semiconductor device manufacturers will usher in the opportunity to lay out the high-voltage charging ecology under the challenges of long capacity expansion cycle and unequal capacity distribution; under the new opportunities, can the third-generation semiconductor devices show their skills on the high-voltage platform?
The industrialization of 800V high-voltage platform landed
At present, 7 domestic car companies such as Xiaopeng Automobile, GAC Eian, BYD, Geely Krypton, Ideal Automobile, BAIC Jihu, and Dongfeng's Lantu Automobile have laid out or are laying out 800V fast charging technology, and are expected to achieve mass production this year and next year.
Electric vehicles to the high-voltage platform industry development, in the energy replenishment link, the need for charging piles to reach 800V high-voltage platform to match.
Liu Zhihui, Minister of Energy Department of GAC E-An, said: "GAC E-AN actively lays out the field of high-voltage fast charging, and launched a 6C fast-charging battery and an A480 super-charging pile in August this year, which can achieve high-voltage 880V and a maximum charging power of 480kW. Through high-power high-voltage fast charging technology, Aeon hopes to help customers achieve a refueling experience. ”
Sun Guangmin, vice president of Ideal Automobile, also revealed: "The pure electric platform of Ideal Automobile is being laid out, using a high-voltage architecture, and will initially build high-power high-voltage charging piles to meet the needs of ideal users for rapid power replenishment." ”
Zhou Xiaoyang, president of Guangdong Xinju Energy Semiconductor Co., Ltd., told Jiwei Network, "In 2021, basically every new car-making force, or traditional car manufacturers, are considering the 800V platform when building new energy vehicles. ”
It is not difficult to see from the situation of car companies that in the early stage of the high-voltage architecture on new vehicles, high-voltage charging piles are mainly supplied by car companies. On the one hand, there is a certain time difference between the layout progress of charging pile operators and the layout progress of car companies, and charging pile companies are cautious about the future development of the 800V platform, and their layout of new charging piles gives priority to profitability and return on investment. This requires mutual synergy between vehicle and pile companies. At present, Huawei Digital Energy Technology Co., Ltd. is trying to cooperate with car companies to do this.
On the other hand, it is the landing of domestic related charging pile standards. The promotion and use of charging piles needs to be based on standards, and enterprises need to produce and lay corresponding piles based on unified standards. The good news is that the relevant standards will be implemented. According to Liu Yongdong, deputy secretary-general of the China Electricity Council, at the charging pile end, the core components of high-voltage fast charging have little change, which is suitable for planning and layout in advance, and the insulation, heat dissipation, safety and other technologies involved in high voltage have matured. China Telecom Union is accelerating the construction of standardization, and the ChaoJi standard can meet the high-power charging of 1000V/500A.
It is not difficult to see that from the attitude of vehicles, piles and other enterprises and the progress of relevant standard formulation, in 2022, the 800V high-voltage platform is expected to usher in rapid development in China, and the products of domestic car companies and related parts manufacturers will gradually land.
High-voltage devices upgraded to just need, the third generation of semiconductors "get on the car"
Even if the industry develops to the 800V high-voltage platform, it must follow the law of gradual development in the early stage, first in the high-end models to take the lead in use, and then to the low-end models to promote the use.
Source: Tianfeng Securities
Gao Xiang, vice president of the New Energy Research Institute of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association, said that at the end of the car, the industrial chain technology of core components such as fast-charging batteries, PTC, and air conditioners has matured and has the ability to mass-produce. The localization level of core SiC power devices is relatively weak, and the next step of electric vehicle 100 people will continue to promote domestic vehicle regulation standards by relying on its "chain improvement plan" and provide support for the industry at the pilot and policy levels.
In the industrialization of core components, the technical breakthrough of the 800V main drive inverter is the key. Zhou Xiaoyang pointed out that the application of SiC in 800V main drive inverter will be the trend of the times.
SiC devices have the advantages of high frequency, high efficiency and small size, and the upgrade of the 800V voltage platform is also one of the driving forces for its penetration, and will be applied on a large scale with the promotion of the 800V platform in the future.
It is understood that OBC, DC/DC, motor controllers, etc. in new energy vehicles have been or will be applied to SiC devices on a large scale, and ST expects that 52% of SiC devices will be used in the automotive field, which will be the largest application market for SiC.
At the 16th "China Core" Integrated Circuit Industry Promotion Conference in 2021, Chen Dongpo, deputy general manager of Sanan Optoelectronics, expects that in 2023-2024, 80-90% of long-range models will basically import silicon carbide (SiC) devices. At the 16th "China Core" Integrated Circuit Industry Promotion Conference held recently in 2021, Chen Dongpo, deputy general manager of Sanan Optoelectronics, expects that in 2023-2024, 80-90% or even 100% of long-range models will import silicon carbide devices.
At present, many car companies have also begun to "taste the early", the Han model has been equipped with SiC power devices, the Xiaopeng P7 model has also adopted SiC devices, and the Weilai ET7 will be equipped with SiC devices.
Successfully opening up the application market in the automobile will undoubtedly accelerate the speed of the third generation of semiconductors. For silicon carbide industry chain enterprises, how to rationally plan the layout will have a crucial impact on future market performance.
Overseas manufacturers extend upwards, and domestic manufacturers pay more attention to the application end
It is worth noting that in the overseas market, from the perspective of the actions of rohm, ON Semiconductor, TSMC and other large manufacturers, each company is trying to extend upstream, entering the extension of the epitaxial film, the substrate (the material used in the epitaxial film) and other links.
Universal Crystal stressed that the main bottleneck of the current third-generation semiconductor lies in the epitaxial wafer. Gong Ruijiao, a semiconductor analyst at Jibang Consulting Compound, also pointed out that due to the high value ratio, supply chain, technology and patent barriers, the substrate is the key constraint point of SiC wafer production capacity, and the future acquisition of SiC substrate resources will become the entrance ticket to the next generation of electric vehicle power devices.
According to Yole's estimates, the market size of power devices in silicon carbide devices alone will grow from $541 million in 2019 to $2.562 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of about 30%. The rapid development of the device and application market has spawned a strong demand for silicon carbide substrate materials.
In the A-share industry chain, the newly listed Tianyue Advanced raised 2 billion yuan to invest in the construction of silicon carbide substrate projects; Times Electric, Star Semiconductor, BYD Semiconductor, China Resources Micro, Silan Micro, etc. have all laid out SiC power semiconductor devices; in addition, Hunan Sanan announced on January 24 that its silicon carbide (SiC) diodes manufactured in Changsha have passed customer verification after mass production, and its silicon carbide diodes selected in the recommended catalog of automotive chips have successively received orders from customers in the automotive industry.
In terms of parts layout, Xinrui Technology has laid out OBC in the small three electrics, the products are mainly supporting Geely Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile, Dongfeng Honda, Guangqi Honda, Hyundai Motor and other well-known vehicle manufacturers at home and abroad, the vast majority of products have been applied SiC power devices; Ruida is a high-voltage connector manufacturer; Jingjin Electric launched a 250kW silicon carbide composite cooling three-in-one electric drive assembly in September, which has obtained the fixed point of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Group Traton SiC controller, and is expected to be mass-produced in early 2024.
At a time when the automobile is undergoing changes, there has been a great integration of the automobile track and the semiconductor track, which is pregnant with new opportunities in the process of upgrading the core technology of the automobile. In 2022, with the advancement of the 800V high-voltage platform, more SiC devices will be installed in the car in the future. Domestic and foreign industrial chain enterprises will also compete in the Subdivision of SiC.
Zhu Hangou, senior analyst of Jiwei Consulting, pointed out: "In the automotive grade power device market, many domestic companies have launched corresponding products and have begun to verify on the car, but due to the long verification cycle, it is expected that domestic enterprises will begin to have practical applications in the second half of 2022. In general, the number of enterprises continues to increase, the production line accelerates construction, the supply chain begins to gradually take shape, and the independent and controllable ability of the industrial chain is enhanced. It is expected that enterprises will strengthen their own cultivation and attach importance to product development while seizing the market, so as to truly guide the future market. ”
(Proofreading/New)