Recently, as the 20 millionth new energy car rolled off the production line, the cumulative number of new energy vehicle production in my country broke a new record.
Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary-general of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, pointed out that 20 million vehicles mark that China’s new energy vehicles have entered a new stage of high-quality development of scale and globalization on the basis of industrialization and marketization. It is becoming an important part of the modern industrial system supported by the real economy.
The rapid development of the new energy automobile industry “deeply stepped on the accelerator” has driven the acceleration of silicon carbide devices.
Industry calculations show that silicon carbide (SiC) devices can increase the charging speed of new energy vehicles by 5-10 times, increase the cruising range by more than 8%, reduce losses by 50%, reduce the on-resistance to 1/200, and reduce the size to 1 /10. Silicon carbide power devices can help new energy vehicles increase acceleration, reduce system costs, increase mileage and achieve lightweight. The automotive grade market is now its most important application scenario, and the rapid development of new energy vehicles is the main driving force for the application of silicon carbide power devices.
In 2022, China’s domestic production and sales of new energy vehicles will reach 7.058 million and 6.887 million respectively, ranking first in the world for eight consecutive years. In 2022, the penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles in my country will be 27.6%, an increase of 12.6 percentage points compared with 2021.
According to recent data released by the Passenger Federation, my country’s new energy vehicle sales in May 2023 will be 580,000, a year-on-year increase of 60.9%, and a penetration rate of 33.3%. In May, my country exported 92,000 new energy passenger vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 135.7% and a month-on-month increase of 1.2%, accounting for 30.5% of passenger vehicle exports; among them, pure electric passenger vehicles accounted for 92.6% of new energy vehicle exports. In June, new energy retail sales were about 670,000 vehicles, a month-on-month increase of 15.5%, a year-on-year increase of 26.0%, and a penetration rate of about 36.6%.
It can be seen from the above data that in recent years, the proportion of my country’s new energy vehicles in the overall sales volume has increased rapidly, and there is a tendency to occupy the mainstream position in the automobile market. At the same time, new energy vehicles are not only becoming more and more popular in China, but also have become an important export product of our country. Such a huge new energy vehicle industry capacity will surely make China one of the most important silicon carbide device markets in the world.
According to Yole, an industry statistics agency, the market size of silicon carbide power devices will increase from US$1.09 billion in 2021 to US$6.297 billion in 27 years, with a compound growth rate of 34%. Among them, the automotive-grade market is the most important application scenario for silicon carbide devices, and it is expected to grow from US$685 million in 2021 to US$4.986 billion in 2027.
In the face of huge industrial opportunities, international chip manufacturers represented by STMicroelectronics, Infineon, and ON Semiconductor either acquire their own silicon carbide substrate production capacity through acquisitions, or reach cooperation with substrate suppliers such as Wolfspeed , In short, they are rapidly expanding the production capacity of silicon carbide devices in a vertically integrated mode, and accelerating the advancement to 8-inch substrates.
Among domestic enterprises, Sanan Optoelectronics, Tianke Heda, Tianyue Advanced, and China Electronics Chemicals have successively entered the supply chain of international major manufacturers, which means that local companies have achieved certain competitiveness and are expected to continue to shorten the distance between them and international major manufacturers in the future. gap.
With regard to the core substrate field of the silicon carbide industry, Shuoke Crystal, Jingsheng Electromechanical, Tianyue Advanced, Nansha Wafer, Tongguang Co., Ltd., Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong University, Tianke Heda, Keyou Semiconductor, and Qianjing Semiconductor 10 domestic enterprises and institutions, etc., have pushed their research and development work to 8-inch substrates.
From the rapid development of the new energy automobile industry and the trends of major companies at home and abroad, it is not difficult to see that the silicon carbide industry will develop at a high speed, and technical problems such as yield rate and substrate expansion are expected to be overcome faster than previously expected. It is believed that with the acceleration of my country’s new energy automobile industry and the continuous efforts of domestic silicon carbide enterprises, China will surely achieve great development and harvest in the wave of silicon carbide development. For IC distributors who have entered or intend to enter the automotive supply chain, it is time to carry out preparatory work such as popularizing the concept of silicon carbide devices to customers and striving for corresponding channel resources.