Freescale to sell Fuji IGBTs for automotive

LONDON – Freescale Semiconductor Inc. has agreed to work with Fuji Electric on insulated-gate bipolar transistor technology and products for hybrid electric and electric vehicles (HEV and EV).

Under the terms of the deal – made with Fuji Electric Systems Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fuji Electric Holdings Co. Ltd. – Freescale (Austin, texas) will add high-power IGBT products from Fuji to its product portfolio, market them and develop products based on customer input.

Freescale said the addition of Fuji IGBTs would allow it to offer all the major electronic components of EV systems, including microcontrollers, analog gate drivers, battery-monitoring ICs, power IGBTs, modeling and simulation tools, and software components for motor control development.

The IGBT is a high-voltage, high-current switch used to connect to and drive the traction motor in a hybrid electric or electric vehicle. IGBTs are suitable for 20-kW to 120-kW EV motors due to high efficiency and fast switching.

"Freescale chose Fuji Electric's IGBT technology based on its high-performance characteristics and capability," said Tom Deitrich, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale's RF, analog and sensor group, in a statement.

"This alliance will enable our IGBT technology to contribute to the increased efficiency of electric vehicles." said Kuniaki Yanagisawa, Fuji Electric Systems corporate vice president and general manager of the semiconductors group, in the same statement.