Texas Instruments Introduces Breakthrough Gate Driver for Enhanced EV Efficiency and Driving Range

What’s Happening

Texas Instruments (TI) has announced the debut of its UCC5880-Q1 reinforced isolated gate driver, designed to help engineers create more efficient traction inverters and increase the driving range of electric vehicles (EVs). The gate driver is functional safety-compliant and comes with features that allow EV powertrain engineers to improve power density, reduce design complexity and cost, and achieve their safety and performance targets.

Why It Matters

As EVs gain popularity, semiconductor innovations in traction inverter systems are crucial in overcoming barriers to widespread adoption. The UCC5880-Q1 gate driver enables automakers to create safer, more efficient, and more reliable silicon carbide (SiC) and insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-based traction inverters. This gate driver features real-time variable gate-drive strength, Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), advanced SiC monitoring and protection, and diagnostics for functional safety.

Key Points

  • The UCC5880-Q1 gate driver helps improve system efficiency by up to 2% by minimizing SiC switching power losses, leading to an extra 7 miles of EV driving range per battery charge.
  • The gate driver’s SPI programmability and integrated monitoring and protection features can reduce design complexity and external component costs.
  • Engineers can rapidly prototype more efficient traction inverter systems using the SiC EV Traction Inverter Reference Design, which includes the UCC5880-Q1, a bias-supply power module, real-time control MCUs, and high-precision sensing.
  • TI will showcase the UCC5880-Q1 and other high-voltage innovations at the 2023 Power Conversion and Intelligent Motion (PCIM) Europe conference from May 9-11.

Bottom Line

Texas Instruments’ new UCC5880-Q1 reinforced isolated gate driver offers significant benefits for engineers designing EV traction inverters, allowing them to enhance efficiency, reduce design complexity, and increase driving range. This innovation demonstrates TI’s commitment to unlocking the potential of high-voltage technology with advancements in power conversion and wide band-gap semiconductors. Preproduction quantities of the automotive-grade, ISO26262-compliant UCC5880-Q1 are available now on TI.com, with pricing starting at $5.90 for 1,000-unit quantities.

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