Renesas and Nidec Collaborate on Innovative “8-in-1” Proof of Concept to Provide Advanced Integration for Electric Vehicle Drive Motors

On November 11, semiconductor solutions provider Renesas Electronics announced today that it has taken the lead in launching the "8-in-1" proof of concept (Note) (PoC) solution for electric vehicle (EV) drive motor system (E-Axle) worldwide - eight functions can be controlled by a single microcontroller (MCU). Developed in cooperation with Nidec, the PoC integrates motors, gears (reducers), inverters, DC/DC converters, and on-board battery chargers (OBC). In addition, system-level testing has been successfully completed to ensure its performance.

As a unit in electric vehicles, E-Axle integrates drive motors, gears, and inverters. By integrating multiple functions, the E-Axle system can reduce system size and weight and simplify electric vehicle design. Renesas provides key components including semiconductors and reference designs for the development of this new 8-in-1 E-Axle system. Renesas also plans to bring one-stop semiconductor chips and solutions for various "all-in-1" systems based on the reference design of this PoC. With these solutions, developers can immediately implement and evaluate the "all-in-1" system, thereby accelerating the development of electric vehicles.

In addition to Nidec's motors and gears, the functions in this PoC include Renesas' inverter (output power of 70 to 100kW, with a maximum efficiency of 99% or higher), 1.5kWDC/DC converter, 6.6kW OBC, power distribution unit (PDU), battery management system (BMS), and automotive positive temperature common efficiency (PTC) heating controller. Generally speaking, each function of the E-Axle requires a dedicated MCU and power management IC (PMIC) to achieve control of the "all-in-1" system. The new E-Axle system successfully developed by Renesas only requires one MCU and one PMIC to control the entire 8-in-1 system. By integrating these functions into a single MCU through system integration, this PoC can significantly reduce the number of components, system cost and size.

The new PoC has been tested for optimal performance and includes many Renesas products: automotive-grade 32-bit MCU RH850/U2B, PMIC for MCU power supply, isolated gate driver RAJ2930004AGM, IGBT modules for inverters, power devices for OBC and DC/DC converters. Thanks to these innovative technologies, Renesas can provide customers with comprehensive system and software support, as well as key components for "all-in-1" solutions. Renesas is committed to creating comprehensive system solutions including reference designs and software to accelerate the development of electric vehicles.

Chris Allexandre, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Power at Renesas, said: “We are honored to work with Nidec to jointly launch the innovative 8-in-1 E-Axle solution and have successfully verified its excellent performance. We are committed to providing a wide range of power semiconductor devices and combining them with Renesas’ digital products to accelerate customer product development and shorten time to market with complete, ready-to-use system-level solutions.”

“In the rapidly changing EV market, demand for smaller, lower-cost E-Axle systems is increasing. Using a single ECU to manage EV powertrain control units will help reduce system weight and cost, as well as the number of components,” said Ryuji Omura, Senior Vice President, Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Head of Nidec Semiconductor Solutions Center at Nidec. “We were the first to successfully develop this innovative PoC that controls an 8-in-1 system with a single MCU. We would like to thank the Renesas team for their passion and excellent collaboration in this project. In addition, this project taught us the importance of developing a scalable design approach, as the integration levels of all-in-1 systems vary across market segments. By modifying the software configuration of the multicore MCU, we expect to lay the foundation for an all-in-1 platform that can flexibly adapt to a variety of combinations.”

(Note) Based on Renesas Electronics research.