74 SiC models debut in Beijing! The industry landscape has quietly changed

On April 25, the Beijing Auto Show officially opened. According to official information, there were 278 new energy vehicle models at the show. "Experts Say Three and a Half Generations" spent two days counting and found that there were about 74 silicon carbide models at the auto show, accounting for 26.6% of the new energy vehicle models in the entire auto show. Through this auto show, "Experts Say Three and a Half Generations" glimpsed four important changes related to the silicon carbide industry:

Silicon carbide models occupy the "C position" at the exhibition, and silicon carbide is the highlight of almost all new product releases by automakers around the world; domestic silicon carbide substrates have achieved a "reversal" - widely used in BYD , Xiaomi, Porsche and other models, and 3 silicon carbide substrate companies have ranked among the top 5 in the world. Silicon carbide electric drive is not only a rigid demand for 800V models, but GAC Aion has also introduced silicon carbide electric drive in 400V models this time. Geely's domestically produced SiC MOSFET / IGBT hybrid electric drive was unveiled, which can save 75% of silicon carbide usage and is expected to widely use silicon carbide in new energy vehicles.

800V supercharging is about to accelerate: Huawei Digital Energy, together with the first batch of 11 car companies including Avita, BAIC, BYD, Great Wall, GAC, Hozon, JAC, Ideal Auto, Chery, Seres, and Xiaopeng, and more than 500 online and offline charging operators witnessed the establishment of the "Supercharging Alliance".

Relevant analysis and detailed silicon carbide models will be presented in this article. If you think it is valuable, please give it a thumbs up. You are also welcome to leave a message for discussion and advice.

Two "Changes" Revealed at the Beijing Auto Show

At this Beijing Auto Show, many people lamented that after four years, “a great deal has changed.” Not only has the automotive industry changed dramatically, but the silicon carbide industry has also changed dramatically.

The automotive landscape has changed in two aspects.

First, the new energy trend is rapid. From 2020 to 2024, the sales of new energy vehicles increased by 600% in four years, from 1.367 million to 9.495 million. According to the data of China Automobile Association, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China has reached 31.1% from January to March this year, and 62.44% of new energy vehicles are pure electric models.

Second, the "status" of domestic car companies is very different. Four years ago, the booths of Chinese car companies were scattered in various corners of the Beijing Auto Show, but this year Chinese brands have gradually occupied the C position of the booths, and are also leading in the number of models - at this auto show, there are 117 global debut cars, 30 from multinational companies, and 87 from domestic companies.

The silicon carbide industry landscape has also changed in two aspects.

First, the number of silicon carbide models has soared. According to the 2023 Silicon Carbide (SiC) Industry Research White Paper, only two silicon carbide models were sold in 2020, but by 2023, there will be about 45 silicon carbide models released that year alone. The latest statistics from "Three and a Half Generations of Experts" found that as of the first quarter of this year, more than 18 automobile companies around the world have delivered more than 63 silicon carbide models, including 43 Chinese brands and 20 foreign brands.

On the other hand, the market share of global silicon carbide substrate players has also changed significantly. Data shows that in 2021, among the major global conductive silicon carbide substrate manufacturers, five foreign companies, including Wolfspeed, II-VI, Rohm , SK Silron, Showa Denko and STMicroelectronics, accounted for more than 90.8% of the market share, while domestic silicon carbide substrate companies accounted for only 8.8%.

However, by 2023, the sales volume and market share of domestic conductive substrates have soared. According to the survey of "Experts Say Three and a Half Generations", in 2023, the conductive silicon carbide substrate revenue of five companies in the world exceeded RMB 1 billion. The leader is still Wolfspeed, but the second to fourth places are all Chinese companies.

Tianyue Advanced is one of the typical representatives of domestic silicon carbide conductive substrates winning this "turnaround battle".

According to Tianyue Advanced's prospectus, in 2020, the company's total revenue was approximately 424.8 million yuan, making it one of the world's top three suppliers of semi-insulating silicon carbide substrates (semi-insulating revenue was approximately 346 million yuan), but the revenue from conductive silicon carbide substrates was only 2.4434 million yuan.

However, in the past three years, Tianyue Advanced has made great achievements in conductive substrates. According to the latest financial report, Tianyue Advanced's total operating revenue in 2023 was 1.251 billion yuan, 2.95 times that of 2020, most of which came from conductive substrates and were adopted by leading automotive-grade SiC device companies.

According to the announcement, in 2023, Tianyue Advanced signed new long-term cooperation agreements with internationally renowned companies such as Infineon and Bosch . For example, Tianyue Advanced will provide Infineon with 6-inch conductive substrates and crystal rods, accounting for double-digit levels of Infineon's demand. At the same time, Tianyue Advanced will also help Infineon transform to 8-inch products.

Following the line of Tianyue Advanced's supply to Infineon and Bosch, we can find that many SiC models at this Beijing Auto Show have widely adopted domestic SiC substrates, and the supply ratio is still very high. For example, BYD Auto's SiC MOSFET supplier is Bosch, etc., Xiaomi Auto SU7's SiC MOSFET supplier is Infineon and Bosch, Porsche's SiC MOSFET is also Bosch, etc.

In 2024, the number and sales of silicon carbide models will further increase. The number of domestic silicon carbide models will lead foreign automakers. What will be the future development of domestic silicon carbide, which has the "right time, right place, and right people"? We will wait and see.

Below I will give you a detailed introduction to the new products such as silicon carbide models, electric drives, supercharging, silicon carbide aircraft, etc. at the Beijing Auto Show.

Xiaomi SU7: 3 silicon carbide electric drives + liquid-cooled charging piles unveiled

Today, Xiaomi Motors made its debut at the Beijing International Auto Show; as of April 24, the number of Xiaomi SU7 orders has reached 75,723. Xiaomi said that it has successfully delivered 5,781 Xiaomi SU7s.

At the exhibition, Xiaomi Auto displayed four silicon carbide-related components, including a 600kW liquid-cooled supercharger and three silicon carbide electric drives.

Xiaomi SU7 has three versions, namely SU7 standard version and SU7 Pro version equipped with 400V electric drive platform, and SU7 Max equipped with 800V electric drive platform. Among them, the four-wheel drive version of Xiaomi SU7 (SU7 Max) is equipped with SiC electric drive of Inovance United Power; its two-wheel drive version (SU7 standard version and SU7 Pro) is equipped with 400V SiC electric drive of United Automotive Electronics .

BYD: 12 silicon carbide models launched

At this auto show, BYD's four major brands, Ocean, Yangwang, Fangchengbao and Denza, all displayed silicon carbide models.

● Ocean brand: Sea Lion 07, Ocean M, Shark pickup

At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, the BYD Haishi 07 EV was officially unveiled at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show. As the first SUV model built by BYD Ocean Network's marine biological series, the new car is built on BYD's e-platform 3.0.

The Sea Lion 07EV offers two power options: single motor and dual motor four-wheel drive. The single motor provides 170kW and 230kW power, while the dual motor four-wheel drive version has a maximum power of 160kW and 230kW for the front and rear motors respectively. The single motor version has a range of 550km and 610km respectively, while the four-wheel drive version is equipped with an 80.64kWh battery pack with a range of 550km.

The Shark is built on the DMO super hybrid off-road platform, with a maximum output of 194 horsepower, and the 2.0T version reaches 245 horsepower. In addition, while achieving high performance, the DMO system also achieves low energy consumption. The electronic control and power generation system controllers are all equipped with SiC chips as standard , with an efficiency of up to 99.5%. The comprehensive fuel consumption when the battery is low is 7.8L/100km, and the comprehensive cruising range can reach 1,200km. The pure electric cruising range may be around 100km.

BYD's new Ocean-M concept car was officially unveiled and is expected to be launched in the third quarter of this year. It is equipped with a new pure electric platform and is the industry's first two-box rear-wheel drive pure electric model.

● Fangchengbao brand: 4 silicon carbide models are unveiled

On April 25, Fangcheng Leopard brought all its products to the Beijing Auto Show, including the hard-core off-road Leopard 5, the hard-core flagship Leopard 8, and the SUPER 3 and SUPER 9, which also made their auto show debut.

Among them, Leopard 5 will launch a new version of the model. Since its launch in November 2023, Leopard 5 has delivered nearly 20,000 units in total. Leopard 5 is equipped with BYD's DMO platform, which includes a longitudinal EHS hybrid system. The system uses SiC devices and a drive motor with a peak power of 200kW, with a working efficiency of 99.5%.