The Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone, or WHDZ – located in Wuhan, capital city of China's Central Hubei province – has reportedly made significant progress in new energy vehicle core chips R&D, with the first batch of IGBTs, or insulated-gate bipolar transistor modules, rolling off the production line on July 7.
The IGBT module is one of the core components in the electronic control systems of new energy vehicles, or NEVs. It directly controls the core indicators of a vehicle's AC/DC electrical power conversion and its high and low voltage power regulation.
The modules were developed by Zhixin Semiconductor Co – a high-tech enterprise engaged in the manufacture and sales of semiconductor power modules – which is a unit of auto manufacturer Dongfeng Motor Corporation.
At present, only three domestic manufacturers have the R&D and manufacturing capabilities for IGBT modules and Zhixin Semiconductor Co is one of them.
China's new energy vehicle production and sales have ranked it first in the world for five consecutive years. In 2020, the production and sales of NEVs exceeded 1.3 million, but domestic power semiconductor modules for electric vehicles have long been dependent on imports.
In 2018, Dongfeng decided to work with CRRC Corporation Limited to start independent research, development and production of automotive-grade IGBT chip modules so as to replace imports and build a safe and stable battery, motor and electronic control technology supply chain.
With its stable product performance, the IGBT samples that Dongfeng has produced have successfully passed compliance and quality tests and obtained orders from companies such as United Automotive Electronics Systems Co.
Zhixin Semiconductor Co's production line currently has an annual output of 300,000 sets of IGBT modules.
It has a production line based on sixth-generation IGBT technology. The company is widely regarded as the most advanced in its field in China and the quality of the IGBT modules produced there is said to be comparable to imported counterparts, while being at least 10 percent cheaper.
