HiEFFICIENT

In HiEFFICIENT, 33 partners from 9 European countries are cooperating in this 3-year project with a total budget of 42 M€. The consortium of this project is an outstanding combination of well-known European industrial companies and research institutes, being located along the whole value chain, starting from semiconductors industry and ending up with OEMs.

The project aims to demonstrate the advantages of integrating wide-bandgap power electronics on component (e.g., System-on-Chip, System-in-Package), sub-system (e.g., embedding power electronics components in printed circuit boards) and system level (e.g., traction inverter with / without on-board charger). This will help to increase efficiency and extend the lifetime of power electronics by adding (also virtual) sensors.

1. Integration and volume reduction of up to 40%
2. Increase efficiency beyond 98% and reduce losses of up to 50%
3. Lifetime improvement of up to 20%
4. Intelligent power modules

As a partner of HiEFFICIENT, FLAG-MS is working on the development of an integrated bidirectional On-Board Charger (OBC) and DC/DC converter for (PH)EV powered by batteries up to 450 V.
Requirements of electric and hybrid vehicles are mainly related to obtaining as longest range as possible, maintaining high-performances and this brings constraints in terms of efficiency and weight of the vehicle itself.
The use of hybrid solutions such as SiC and GaN and the level of integration will target both efficiency and density requirements of future vehicles.
The project work starts at component-level, working with the power device supplier partners, and is followed by multi-objective design optimization and virtual prototyping approaches. The high integration level requested brings challenges in thermal management, which will be addressed by the development of high-performance cooling system.
The bi-directional on-board charger, suited for 1/3 phase and world-wide grid compatibility, will be conceived to guarantee a power density higher than current market standards of power handling with an expected power density greater than 1.5kW/l and a power wide range of 3.6kW to 22kW. It will be equipped with vehicle to grid (V2G) functionality compliant with new smart grid technologies requirements.

By taking part in the HiEFFICIENT project, FLAG-MS acquires know-how on additional key components of an electric powertrain among the product‘s portfolio of which it can manage a complete development. The know-how gained in the development of OBC and DC/DC will represent an added point of attraction for the customers who ask FLAG-MS to develop their own components.
Thanks to HiEFFICIENT the company can work on the latest generation of SiC and GaN devices, provided by the suppliers of power devices in the project partnership, which are not yet available on the market.
The last benefit is related to the development of a business network with European companies operating in the field of electrification, which eventually will lead to partnerships or to an increase of business with European companies.