News: Microelectronics
8 October 2024
QPT wins APC project grant to develop high-frequency GaN inverter demonstrator for automotive
Independent power electronics company Quantum Power Transformation (QPT) Ltd of Cambridge, UK — which was founded in 2019 and develops gallium nitride (GaN)-based electric motor controls — has won a grant for the project VERDE to develop a high-frequency 400V/60kW GaN inverter demonstrator for automotive use that will help to demonstrate that GaN is now superior to silicon carbide (SiC) or silicon. Funded by the UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), the project is designed to help accelerate early-stage technologies to market that will support the shift to net-zero automotive. The other company in the project is RAM Innovations Ltd, which provides innovative packing to keep dies cool.
The demonstrator features high-frequency switching up to 1MHz to enable dramatic savings in waste, weight and power costs in the drive system. Key to this is QPT’s unique pure sign-wave output that reduces harshness, noise and vibration, improving reliability and reducing power consumption.
The traction inverter market for electric vehicles (EVs) was estimated to be $17.93bn in 2023 and is projected to rise at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.9% to about $73.08bn by 2032, according to Precedence Research. Currently, half of the world’s electricity is used by electric motors. QPT reckons that its technology could reduce their electricity use by 10%, which would be a significant reduction in CO2 production.
“Our system technology enables GaN to be used for high-power, high-performance applications, overcoming the thermal and EMI problems that have stopped GaN being used in automotive in the past,” notes CEO Rupert Baines. “We are already talking with automotive companies who would like to partner with us to leapfrog the market that is currently focussed on SiC and realise GaN-based inverters. Reducing waste in the inverter and in the motor not only increases range (or reduces batteries for the same range) but it also simplifies the cooling system, further reducing weight,” he adds.
“This project will create a demonstrator to be shown at Cenex Expo at UTAC Millbrook, UK in September 2025, where the world’s leading EV companies will be able to see the technological leap forward that this project has made possible,” says RAM Innovations’ CEO Peter Green. “This APC investment will accelerate bringing the technology to market by at least two years,” he reckons.
“VERDE is part of Innovate UK’s campaign to fund exciting British innovations so that Britain can be a major force in the new technologies that will be driving the global economy,” says QPT’s VP of engineering & operations Ian Stacey, who is the project leader at QPT. “As well as stimulating research and development, it will also provide around 70 UK manufacturing jobs by 2032 as the technology is turned into products,” he adds. “In the drive to net-zero, the demand for electric motors will escalate and these must be as efficient as possible to minimize electricity being wasted. EVs will play an increasingly important role in achieving net zero. This project unlocks GaN and is a major step forward in achieving it, replacing legacy silicon and SiC.”
QPT joins Polytechnic of Coimbra’s academic business incubator INOPOL
