For electric vehicles (EVs), efficiency is the name of the game. There are many avenues to improving efficiency, especially within the drivetrain with one of the key areas being power electronics. Of these components, the main inverter is the highest power and gives the best opportunity for efficiency improvements. The main inverter is responsible for converting the DC output of the battery into an AC input for the electric motor. In the past few years, we have started to see wide bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) adopted in EV inverters to replace the typical silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistors (Si IGBTs). The use of SiC enables higher density power modules that can operate at higher temperatures, leading to new thermal management and material opportunities for EV power electronics.
Source : Thermal Management in the Silicon Carbide Revolution | IDTechEx Research Article