Infineon releases four power modules for electric vehicles

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

Infineon Technologies AG has launched four power modules  for hybrid and electric vehicle (xEV) main inverters . The new HybridPACK Drive modules are optimized for different inverter performance levels between 100 kW and 200 kW. The company also introduced the HybridPACK Double Sided Cooling (DSC) S2 technology upgrade to the existing HybridPACK DSC. This module targets main inverters up to 80 kW in hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with high-power-density requirements.

All new derivatives of the HybridPACK Drive have the same footprint as the existing lead device (FS820R08A6P2x) in the product family, enabling faster scale without a major system redesign.

At the lower-performance end of the product family, the new HybridPACK Drive Flat (FS660R08A6P2Fx) and Wave (FS770R08A6P2x) are cost-optimized for 100 kW up to 150 kW inverters, respectively, said Infineon. Each of their baseplates — which connect to the cooler of the inverter — have different structures for different capabilities of thermal dissipation. Instead of the established PinFin baseplate, which offers the highest cooling performance, the Flat version uses a flat baseplate without any structure, delivering a lower power output at a lower cost. The Wave version fits between the Flat and PinFin baseplate performance with a Ribbon Bond baseplate structure.

At the high end of the product family, the HybridPACK Drive Performance (FS950R08A6P2B) targets 200-kW inverters. It uses the same PinFin baseplate as the lead product. However, this product uses a dedicated ceramic material instead of the known aluminum oxide, improving cooling by more than 20%. These HybridPACK devices, including the lead product, come with the EDT2 (Electric Drive Train) IGBT.

The fourth new device (FS380R12A6T4x) is an alternative version of the Performance module, targeting 150-kW inverters. It uses the same PinFin baseplate and performance ceramic but has a different chipset of IGBT4 dies, which makes it the first in the family with a 1,200-V blocking voltage. This will be required in electric vehicles with a battery voltage of more than 700 V for ultra-fast charging, said Infineon. For switching frequencies in the range of 8 kHz, the IGBT4 is a less expensive alternative to SiC modules, said the company.

Infineon will also add the EDT2 technology to the HybridPACK DSC module (HybridPACK DSC S2, FF450R08A03P2). The DSC S2, with a 750-V blocking voltage, uses the double-sided cooling package and provides an extended short-term operating capability up to a chip junction temperature of 175°C.

Together, the chip technology upgrade and the higher chip temperature operating capability offer a 40% increase in the achievable performance from the same footprint compared to the existing HybridPACK DSC S1. This translates into very high power density required in hybrid and plug-in vehicles.

The HybridPACK Drive products will be available in June 2019, followed by the HybridPACK DSC S2 in July 2019.