Variable isolated gate driver optimises SiC to extend EVs

At PCIM Europe 2023, Texas Instruments laid out the design targets required for electric vehicles (EVs) as the design moves towards higher voltage systems (800V) based on SiC. These 800V systems focus on efficient, isolated gate drivers for reliable traction inverters which can maximise the drive range of vehicles based on these high voltage semiconductors, explained Laszio Balogh, senior technology for high voltage power at TI.

"Making SiC systems suceed requires an ecosystem, with gate drivers, sensors, all working together," he said. He outlined three key goals of electronics designers to address the charge time of EVs. These are efficiency, reliability - bearing in mind that gate drivers operate at 20kHz frequency or perform 20,000 switching operations per second, power density and design complexity.

The company has introduced the UCC5880-Q1 reinforced isolated gate driver, described as the EV's spark plug by Matt Romig, business lead for isolated gate drivers at TI. Its differentiating characteristic, isolation is essential in a vehicle's high voltage, high current system which has a sensitive load. The gate driver's role is to protect humans and circuitry and the UCC5880-Q1 meets the isolation requirements and also complies with ISO 26262 for functional safety to ASIL and for efficiency, the driver's real time variable gate drive IP provides the flexibility when running the SiC to extend the driver per charge. By varying the gate-drive strength in real time, in steps between 20 and 5.0A, designers can improve system efficiency with the UCC5880-Q1 gate driver as much as 2% by minimising SiC switching power losses. TI claims that driving range can be extended by seven miles per charge or the equivalent of 1,000 miles per year.

The integrated device also includes SPI (serial peripheral interface), SiC monitoring and protection and diagnostics for functional safety. The SPI programmability and integrated monitoring and protection features can reduce design complexity as well as external component costs, said TI. The company has also introduced an SiC EV traction inverter reference design. This customisable design includes the UCC5880-Q1, Wolfspeed SiC devices, a bias-supply power module, real-time control microcontrollers and high-precision sensing. 

Pre-production quantities of the automotive-grade, ISO26262-compliant UCC5880-Q1 are available now in a 10.5 x 7.5mm, 32-pin shrink small-outline package (SSOP). The UCC5880-Q1 evaluation module is also available for purchase now.