The high-voltage battery is located centrally in the drive and literally in the middle of the Audi RS Q e-tron. It embodies the heart of the innovative electric drive with energy converter. Audi intends to use it to set the next milestone in the world’s toughest rally and prove “Vorsprung durch Technik” (free translation: head start through technology) in the desert as well.

Although Covid’s impact on power electronics markets has continued into 2021, it has not all been negative. While car makers have suffered from chip shortages, the trend to EVs has accelerated. Personal electronics sales have also grown sharply. Overall, growth is forecast for the sector.

Threshold hysteresis is needed to obtain a smooth and chatter-free lockout function even in the presence of supply noise or resistance. After discussing a simple UVLO/OVLO circuit, this article will present some simple methods for adding threshold hysteresis, which is necessary when the default value is insufficient.

The World Climate Conference in Glasgow has just ended, and the question is whether the goal of maximum global heating of 1.5 °C can still be achieved. In a model calculation, Empa researchers show how the energy transition could lead to the lowest possible cumulative emissions: Instead of slowly cutting back emissions, we should quickly push ahead with the conversion to solar energy and use fossil power plants at full capacity for one last time to do so.

Jochen Hanebeck will take over as the new Chief Executive Officer of Infineon Technologies AG on April 1, 2022. This was decided today by the Supervisory Board. Hanebeck was reappointed for five years, his contract runs until March 31, 2027. He has been a member of the Management Board and Chief Operations Officer since 2016. He succeeds Dr. Reinhard Ploss, who has led the company as CEO since 2012.

IONITY is investing around 700 million euros to install more than 5,000 additional fast-charging points by 2025. As such, the joint venture – in which Volkswagen, with its Porsche and Audi brands, has a stake – is creating more than 1,000 locations for fast charging at up to 350 kW.

At the heart of every electric car is the battery. It should be compact and as powerful as possible - and above all safe. This places great demands on production. Researchers from Fraunhofer IPA are demonstrating what this could look like in the future at the Center for Digitized Battery Cell Production (ZDB).

Data processing ICs—such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), systems on a chip (SoCs), and microprocessors—continually increase their reach into telecommunications, networking, industrial, automotive, avionics, and defense systems. One common thread throughout these systems is ever increasing processing power, resulting in corresponding increases in raw power requirements.

Nexperia, a specialist in essential semiconductors, announced its entry into the high-power Silicon Carbide (SiC) diodes market with the introduction of 650 V, 10 A SiC Schottky diodes. This is a strategic move for Nexperia, already a supplier of efficient power Gallium Nitride (GaN) FETs, to expand its high-voltage wide bandgap semiconductor device offering.

Audi is already developing high-voltage batteries for plug-in hybrids in Neckarsulm. Now, development of complete high-voltage battery portfolios for fully electric vehicles is being predominantly settled at that location and gradually expanded for that purpose. Additionally, a battery center for testing high-voltage storage technologies will go into operation by 2023.