STMicroelectronics and ZF sign a long-term supply agreement to supply more than 10 million silicon carbide devices (benefits at the end of the article)

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STMicroelectronics (ST) announced the signing of a long-term silicon carbide device supply agreement with ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF). Starting in 2025, ZF will purchase silicon carbide devices from STMicroelectronics. Under the terms of this long-term procurement contract, STMicroelectronics will supply ZF with more than 10 million silicon carbide devices. ZF plans to integrate these devices into a new modular inverter architecture that will be mass-produced in 2025, using STMicroelectronics' vertically integrated silicon carbide production lines in Europe and Asia to ensure the completion of electric drive customer orders.

Stephan von Schuckmann, member of ZF's Board of Management responsible for electric drives and materials management, said: "With this strategically important step, we will strengthen the company's supply chain to ensure safe supply to our customers. By 2030, our electric Drive orders have exceeded 30 billion euros. To fulfill this order volume, we need the support of multiple reliable silicon carbide suppliers. ST's experience in the development of complex systems and, above all, the high quality of ST's products. , the output can also meet our needs.” ZF announced its existing silicon carbide technology cooperation agreement in February this year, and the new agreement signed with STMicroelectronics represents ZF’s acquisition of a world-renowned carbonization company. Silicon technology supplier support.

Marco Monti, president of STMicroelectronics' Automotive and Discrete Products Group (ADG), said: "As a vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturing company, we are investing heavily to expand our production capacity and develop the silicon carbide supply chain to help our automotive and industrial customers globally and in Europe. Customers achieve electrification and low-carbon goals. Greater scalability and modularity, as well as higher energy efficiency, peak power and lower costs, are key to the success of electric vehicle technology. Our silicon carbide technology helps realize these advantages. . We are proud to partner with ZF, a leading supplier of automotive electrification, to help them differentiate and optimize the performance of their inverters.”

STMicroelectronics will produce silicon carbide chips in wafer fabs in Italy and Singapore, using STMicroelectronics' advanced STPAK packaging, and complete testing in back-end factories in Morocco and China.

STMicroelectronics will supply tens of millions of third-generation silicon carbide MOSFET devices to ZF starting in 2025. ZF can connect different numbers of silicon carbide chips to meet customer performance requirements without changing the inverter design. ZF will use the technology to develop an electric drive inverter for a European car manufacturer and plans to start production in 2025.

The inverter is the brain of an electric vehicle's electric drive system, responsible for managing the transmission of power between the battery and motor. As electric drive systems advance, inverters become more efficient and sophisticated. Inverter design combined with semiconductor technologies such as silicon carbide is key to improving the performance of electric vehicles. Silicon carbide devices can significantly reduce power losses in inverters for electric vehicles as well as wind turbines and photovoltaic inverters. Silicon carbide devices offer decisive advantages over traditional silicon-based products, enabling higher energy efficiency, power density and reliability while enabling smaller, more cost-effective system designs. In short, electric vehicles equipped with silicon carbide power devices charge faster, have longer range and have more interior space.