Power Electronics in Electric Vehicles: It’s not only about cost

There are a number of power electronics components within an electrical vehicle performing various applications such as main traction inverter, DCDC converter, On board charger etc. Over time the automotive industry has an expectation to reduce the costs for these components, but this is a unidimensional thinking and needs to be challenged. There can be much more value generated when one starts to utilize the power electronics for providing additional functions or when one starts to integrate multiple functions into a single working unit. The transition to wide band gap semiconductors also is an enabler here that can provide highly efficient solutions across multiple applications for the electric vehicle.