Vitesco Technologies and onsemi sign US$ 1.9 billion agreement for for silicon carbide SiC technology capacity expansion

Vitesco Technologies and onsemi have announced a 10-year long-term supply agreement worth US$ 1.9 billion (Euro 1.75 billion) for silicon carbide (SiC) products to enable Vitesco Technologies’ ramp in electrification technologies.

Vitesco Technologies, a manufacturer of modern drive technologies and electrification solutions, is providing an investment of US$ 250 million (Euro 230 million) to onsemi for new equipment for SiC boule growth, wafer production and epitaxy, to secure access to SiC capacity.

The equipment will be used to produce SiC wafers to support Vitesco Technologies’ growing SiC demand. In parallel, onsemi, a leader in intelligent power and sensing technologies, will continue to invest substantially into end-to-end SiC supply chain.

In addition, Vitesco Technologies and onsemi will collaborate on optimised customer solutions for Vitesco Technologies. onsemi’s EliteSiC MOSFETs will be used by Vitesco Technologies to execute the recent orders as well as future projects for traction inverters and electric vehicle drives.

“Energy-efficient silicon carbide power semiconductors are at the beginning of a big surge in demand. That is why it is imperative for us to get access to the complete SiC value chain together with onsemi. With this investment we have a secure supply of a key technology over the next ten years and beyond,” said Andreas Wolf, CEO of Vitesco Technologies.

Hassane El-Khoury, president and CEO of onsemi, commented: “This collaboration will enable Vitesco Technologies to address their customers’ demand for longer range and higher performance in electric vehicles.

onsemi provides superior performance and quality, supply assurance, and manufacturing at scale of SiC technologies, based on decades of experience in manufacturing power semiconductor products in high volume automotive applications.”

SiC semiconductors are a pivotal technology for electrification enabling highly efficient power electronics leading to reduced charging times and longer ranges for electric cars. Especially at high voltage levels such as 800 V, SiC inverters are more efficient than silicon models.

Since 800 V is the prerequisite for fast and thus convenient high-voltage charging, SiC devices are the beginning of a worldwide boom, the press release noted.