Marelli Motorsport and Politecnico di Torino cooperate on Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology
Marelli Motorsport and Politecnico di Torino cooperate on Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology with VisIC V08 Power Switches
September 1, 2021
Marelli Motorsport – the Motorsport business unit of the global automotive supplier Marelli, with an extensive experience in the development of hybrid and electric systems for major motorsport championships – and the Power Electronics Innovation Center (PEIC) of Politecnico di Torino are announcing a new collaboration, regarding the Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology area for power electronics, aimed at electric engines. The project is included in a wider framework research partnership between Marelli and Politecnico.
The collaboration is aiming at the design and prototyping of an innovative multi-level 900V high power inverter for electric traction based on GaN technology.
The concept study started back in 2021 and at present it is in the prototyping phase, which is planning to undergo two development steps withing 2022. The GaN component supplier selected for the prototype phase is VisIC Technologies, a global leader in gallium nitride (GaN) solutions for high-voltage automotive applications.
“The project with Marelli and PEIC for the development of gallium nitride-based multi-level-power inverters in electric vehicles illustrates the break-through of gallium nitride technology in the automotive industry,” said Tamara Baksht, CEO of VisIC. “VisIC’s D3GaN technology was developed for the high reliability standards of the automotive industry and offers the lowest losses per RDS(on). It also simplifies the system solution and enables high-efficiency and affordable power train solutions. It is definitely the next step for the automotive electrical driveline.”