The high-voltage electrical subsystem of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) requires a protection mechanism to protect high-voltage distribution and load in case of overload. To deliver faster and more reliable high-voltage circuit protection solutions to BEV and HEV designers, Microchip Technology announced the launch of silicon carbide (SiC) electronic fuse (E-Fuse) demo boards. The device is available in six models for 400-800V battery systems with current ratings up to 30 amps.
"This E-Fuse demo board provides BEV/HEV OEM designers with a silicon carbide technology based solution that enables faster and more reliable protection of electronic devices to jump-start the development process," said Clayton Pillion, vice president of Microchip's Silicon Carbide Business Unit. "E-Fuse's solid-state design also alleviates long-term reliability concerns for electromechanical devices that are not degraded by mechanical impact, arcing, or contact rebound." SiC power solutions offer the industry's broadest and most flexible portfolio of MosFETs, diodes and grid drivers, including bare chip, discrete devices, modules and customizable power modules.
Using Microchip's SiC MOSFET technology and PIC microcontroller's kern-independent peripherals (CIP) and Lin-based interfaces, E-fuse demo boards offer unmatched durability and performance. These components are automotive certified and have fewer components and higher reliability than discrete designs. Fault currents can be detected and interrupted at the microsecond level, which is 100 to 500 times faster than traditional mechanical methods thanks to a high-voltage solid-state design. Fast response times can greatly reduce peak short-circuit current from tens of thousands of amPs to hundreds of amPs, preventing a hard failure from a failure event.
With the resetability of the E-fuse demo board, designers can easily package the device in a vehicle without worrying about the maintainability limitations of the design. This reduces design complexity and enables flexible vehicle packaging that improves BEV/HEV powertrain distribution. With a built-in Local Internet (LIN) communication interface, the E-fuse demo board enables Oems to accelerate the development of SIC-based ancillary applications. The LIN interface can be configured with an overcurrent trip feature that requires no modification of hardware components and can report diagnostic status.
