Under the agreement ST will supply a volume of double-digit millions of silicon carbide devices to be integrated in ZF’s new modular inverter architecture going into series production in 2025. ZF will leverage ST’s vertically integrated silicon carbide manufacturing in Europe and Asia to secure customer orders in electromobility.
"With this strategically important step, we are strengthening our supply chain to be able to securely supply our customers. Our order book in electromobility until 2030 now amounts to more than thirty billion euros. For this volume, we need several reliable suppliers for silicon carbide devices," explained Stephan von Schuckmann, member of the ZF Board of Management responsible for electromobility as well as materials management.
"STMicroelectronics, a supplier with considerable experience with complex systems, meets our requirements and can produce the devices in exceptionally high quality and at the required quantities."
"As a vertically integrated company, we are investing heavily to expand capacity and develop our silicon carbide supply chain to support our global and European customers across automotive and industrial sectors, as they pursue electrification and decarbonization targets," said Marco Monti, President Automotive and Discrete Group of STMicroelectronics. "The key to success in electric vehicle technology is greater scalability and modularity with increased efficiency, peak power, and affordability."
ST will manufacture the silicon carbide chips at its production fabs in Italy and Singapore with packaging of the chips into STPAK, an ST-developed advanced package, and testing at its back-end facilities in Morocco and China.
ST will supply ZF from 2025 with a volume of double-digit millions of third generation silicon carbide MOSFET devices. Among others, ZF will use the technology in inverters for vehicles of a European car manufacturer whose production start is planned for 2025.
The inverter is the brain of electric drivetrains and manages the flow of energy from battery to e-motor and vice versa.
Inverters have become more efficient and the combination of the inverter design and semiconductors, like silicon carbide, is seen as the key to improving electric vehicle performance. Silicon carbide devices significantly reduce power losses in electric car inverters, as well as in wind turbine and photovoltaic inverters.
Devices made with silicon carbide are seen as having decisive advantages over conventional silicon-based products, such as higher efficiency, power density and reliability. At the same time, they enable smaller and more cost-effective system designs.
