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© Cree
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ZF and Cree partners up to advance the electric drive

ZF Friedrichshafen is teaming up with silicon carbide semiconductor specialist Cree, to create industry-leading, highly efficient electric drivelines.

With this partnership, ZF and Cree are intensifying their existing cooperation. “We’re delighted that we're building on our cooperation with Cree using their Wolfspeed silicon carbide technology and are absolutely convinced that combining our strengths will further improve efficiency and competitive edge for our components and systems,” says Jörg Grotendorst, Head of the ZF E-Mobility Division, in a press release. The future use of silicon carbide-based power semiconductors is poised to increase the range for electric vehicles in contrast to today's standard silicon technology. Due to high battery costs, the efficient electric drive represents an enormous growth potential for the foreseeable future. In particular, silicon carbide technology in conjunction with the 800-volt vehicle electrical system voltage makes a significant contribution to further increasing efficiency. “Partnering with a tier-one leading global automotive supplier like ZF for the use of silicon carbide-based power inverters in next generation electric vehicles is indicative of the integral role silicon carbide plays in extending the capabilities of EVs everywhere,” says Gregg Lowe, CEO of Cree. Cree’s technology will initially be used to fulfill orders that ZF has already received for silicon carbide based electric drives from several leading global automakers. Through the partnership, ZF expects to make silicon carbide electric drivelines available to the market by 2022. Since January 2016, ZF has bundled its electromobility activities in the E-Mobility Division headquartered in Schweinfurt, Germany. More than 9'000 employees work in this division, spread across various locations around the world. Cree is planning on being a force to be reckon with in the transition from silicon to silicon carbide and recently announced silicon carbide capacity expansion with a mega materials factory in Durham, N.C. – which Evertiq reported on – and the world’s largest silicon carbide device manufacturing facility in New York.

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March 15 2024 2:25 pm V22.4.5-1
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