EVs: The Ascension of Electronics

The surging demand for electric vehicles (EVs) drives an unprecedented need for high-quality and dependable electronic systems. Car and Driver reports that electronics currently account for over 40% of an EV’s cost, a figure anticipated to climb to 45% by 2030. A 2023 Goldman Sachs report projects that EVs will constitute 50% of all vehicle sales by the end of this decade, thus making electronics the driver of all automotive. These advanced electronic components are indispensable for fundamental EV operations, such as battery and thermal management, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving, state-of-the-art telematics, and in-cabin features that cater to consumers’ desire for cutting-edge experiences. As the automotive sector pivots from traditional mechanical systems to electronics-based systems, maintaining top-notch quality and reliability is vital for earning consumer trust and guaranteeing the long-term success of the EV market.

The Increasing Significance of In-Cabin Experience

Consumer surveys reveal that “technology” is a significant factor driving EV purchases, surpassing environmental benefits. Consequently, the prevalence of electronics in EVs is expected to increase to meet consumer demands, with the “In-Cabin Experience” becoming a key differentiator among competing EV brands. Modern EVs feature advanced digital dashboards, integrated infotainment systems, state-of-the-art autonomous driving capabilities, and augmented reality displays for an immersive driving experience.

Electric cars are the future of transportation, and the future is all about electronics. The more we innovate and invest in electronics, the faster we’ll get to that future. – Richard Liu, CEO of NIO

The 2023 Shanghai Auto Show showcased various innovative gadgets and features, providing consumers with more options. One of the highlights was Hyundai’s Genesis “sphere,” a futuristic orb with multiple practical functions. In addition, Chinese brands competed to see who had the coolest tech, with one brand introducing an onboard karaoke system.  All of these features are intertwined with the core functions of an EV, and thus, their reliability can make or break a brand.

Progress and Impact on Core Functions

As interest in advanced features grows, the overall electronics load of an EV increases, impacting vehicle weight and range and raising concerns about system complexity in terms of hardware and software. EV designers face the challenge of simplifying systems while adding new features, a balancing act that can significantly impact EV costs.

Consolidating more Powerful Electronic Control Units (ECUs)

EVs may contain over a hundred ECUs.  A growing trend is the development of multi-functional ECUs, reducing the total number required. This consolidation results in more complex electronics in a smaller package but can also negatively impact product quality and reliability, an interesting hurdle to consider:

• Denser and more powerful electronics generate heat, potentially requiring additional thermal management solutions. Excessive heat can shorten the lifespan of electronic components or cause failure.
• Compact designs can present manufacturing challenges for suppliers, potentially reducing production yields and causing delays in product launches, which can affect costs.
• Greater complexity often leads to a higher rate of failures in the field. This issue is further exacerbated by the fast-paced development cycles common in the automotive industry. In these cycles, new products go through design and production validation within strict deadlines, leaving no room for mistakes.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

ADAS technologies are essential for modern-day vehicle safety. These systems utilize various sensors, including cameras, LiDAR, radar, ultrasonics, and GPS positioning, to monitor the vehicle’s surroundings and provide real-time feedback.

Numerous ECU modules respond to ADAS sensors, including autonomous safety, blind spot detection, collision detection, lane departure warning, and pedestrian alert systems. These systems assist drivers in making informed decisions but also add complexity, weight, and cost.

As ADAS technologies continue to evolve rapidly, it is expected that by 2030, many systems will include augmented reality displays, gesture recognition, and advanced biometric sensors. These electronic systems will play a critical role in ensuring safety and, thus, must be of the highest quality and reliability, thus putting further pressure on innovators to meet market demands.

Autonomous Driving ECUs

Building on the foundation of ADAS technologies, the Autonomous Driving ECU ushers in a new era of vehicle safety and control by facilitating higher levels of autonomy and more advanced decision-making processes. This progression demands increasingly sophisticated electronics and fail-safe systems to ensure secure and reliable operation in complex driving scenarios.

The autonomous driving ECU integrates a similar sensor array used in ADAS, forming a comprehensive understanding of the vehicle’s surroundings. Key features of these control units underscore the need for advanced, quality, and reliable electronics. These features include:

• Powerful processing capabilities: The ECU must be equipped with sufficient processing power to analyze large amounts of real-time data from various sensors and make informed driving decisions.
• Safety and reliability: Autonomous driving ECUs must have multiple levels of redundancy and fail-safe mechanisms to ensure the safety of the vehicle and passengers, as well as be designed to prevent catastrophic failures and respond quickly to system failures.
• Advanced AI and machine learning: The ECU must be equipped with advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to improve its decision-making over time and learn from past driving experiences.
• Seamless communication and cybersecurity: The ECU must be able to communicate seamlessly with other vehicle systems to ensure all systems are working together and be designed to be highly secure and resistant to cyber-attacks.

As the automotive industry moves towards fully autonomous vehicles, the distinction between Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving features is blurring. Both are crucial for safety, but the increasing use of electronic components in vehicles demands high-level reliability, making redundancy critical. However, redundancy has a downside: it doubles the electronic load, adding weight, cost, and complexity to the vehicle. Fail-safe systems and redundant components must be developed despite these challenges to ensure reliability. The latest advancements in Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication are being leveraged further to improve autonomous driving technology’s safety and reliability, shaping the future of transportation and e-mobility.

Advanced Telematics

To tie in all these innovations, advanced telematics plays a critical role. EVs are becoming more reliant on telematics units to share information with the cloud, such as navigation, and to make remote changes to ECU software and firmware through over-the-air (OTA) updates. These updates can improve security, performance, and diagnostics. OTA updates require wireless connectivity, secure authentication, advanced encryption, and fault tolerance to prevent interruptions during updates that could corrupt otherwise functional systems. In the future, telematics will increasingly use artificial intelligence to process and act upon large amounts of data, highlighting the need for robust hardware and software.

The Essential Role of Power Electronics in Electric Vehicles

Lastly, power electronics, almost a category within itself in electronics, plays a vital role in enhancing the efficiency and performance of various EV systems, including DC/DC converters, onboard chargers, e-motors, and inverters. The elevated cost of power electronics in EVs is due to the use of Silicon Carbide (SiC) technology and Gallium Nitride (GaN), which provide better performance but at a higher price than conventional Silicon-based semiconductors that have long benefited from economies of scale. Furthermore, the design and testing of power electronic components to endure high temperatures and extreme operating conditions demand precise attention to detail and often necessitate using advanced materials, adding to the overall cost of power electronics in EVs. Power electronics will become more widespread as EVs operate at higher voltages and increased performance levels. The overall cost of SiC and GaN is expected to decrease as they reach higher production volumes.

Challenges

As EVs become more complex and feature-rich for the consumer, mass adoption can drive down costs as EVs are built at scale. While battery costs continue to decline, the same trend is expected for an EV’s electronics. However, this transition will not be without its challenges as the industry undergoes massive changes.

Making a car is ridiculously hard. It’s like a crazy-hard problem. It’s the second most complex product made by humans after an airplane. – Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.

In light of this evolving landscape, several key issues must be addressed:

• Cost: EVs have more advanced and complex electronics than conventional vehicles, making manufacturing more expensive. EV Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) must find ways to reduce the cost of manufacturing these electronics while maintaining high-quality standards.
• Supply Chain: The expanding EV market has created a complicated supply chain for automotive electronics. Numerous automakers are now partnering with Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS) providers, who have primarily focused on consumer electronics production in the past. This shift necessitates EMS providers to embrace automotive practices such as the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) and Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), vital for meeting customer demands, adhering to quality standards, and maintaining regulatory compliance, among other aspects. Some EMS providers, for instance, are finding it challenging to guarantee that incoming materials meet the stringent quality requirements for automotive manufacturing, as this differs significantly from the mindset applied to consumer electronics production.
• Quality Control: EV OEMs must maintain strict quality control measures to ensure that the manufactured electronics meet the highest reliability and safety standards. Failure to do so could result in costly product recalls and damage the brand’s reputation. In addition, the global labor shortage in electronics manufacturing and the relative inexperience of many new entrants to the automotive sector exacerbate this challenge.
• Reliability: EV electronics are anticipated to have extended mission profiles or duty cycles, necessitating increasingly powerful processors and power electronics. This can generate substantial heat, potentially reducing the lifespan of electronic components if not properly managed. When incorporating new features, designers must consider the overall design’s reliability, considering factors such as the effects on other systems, costs, and component quality.
• Testing and Certification: It is crucial to ensure that automotive electronics meet regulatory and safety standards through testing and certification. However, as innovative electronic technologies rapidly emerge, traditional manufacturing standards designed for primarily mechanical vehicles face challenges in adapting. This is due to the automotive industry’s focus on proven, mainly mechanical, and relatively simple electronic technologies for over a century. As EVs increasingly rely on advanced electronics, collaboration among various standards organizations becomes essential. The involvement of multiple organizations in this field, as illustrated in the table below, highlights the need for cooperation. This collaboration will contribute to the development of relevant and effective standards and regulations, ensuring the safety and reliability of EV electronics.
• Recalls: Currently, EVs experience more recalls than conventional vehicles, mainly due to the challenges mentioned earlier. As market demand drives increased EV adoption and production, these vehicles might continue to face disproportionate recalls. Over-the-air updates (OTA) have limitations in addressing all issues, as fixing coding errors is quite different from addressing hardware failures.

Collaboration for a Brighter Future in e-Mobility

The increasing role of electronics in electric vehicles presents significant opportunities and challenges for both the automotive and electronics sectors, emphasizing the need for collaboration and adaptability. The electronics industry must lead in driving this change, transitioning from a predominantly “consumer electronics” mindset, prevalent among many current EV suppliers, to a more methodical automotive approach that satisfies consumer demands without sacrificing quality and dependability. Amidst these rapid advancements, it is essential to remember that an electric vehicle’s primary purpose is to transport passengers safely.

The e-Mobility Quality & Reliability Advisory Council of IPC ensures that the electronics industry, automotive OEMs, and suppliers tackle the numerous challenges outlined in this article. By collaborating, these stakeholders can create solutions that uphold high quality, safety, and reliability standards while catering to consumer expectations for innovative and advanced features in electric vehicles.

Some of the tasks undertaken by the advisory council include:

• Identifying gaps in standards, whether within IPC or other automotive-focused organizations.
• Establishing a knowledge repository for easy access by all stakeholders.
• Providing educational services to retrain and keep up with the rapidly evolving industry.

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In conclusion, the growing prominence of electronics in electric vehicles poses challenges and opportunities for the automotive and electronics industries. By acknowledging the importance of this trend and working together to tackle the intricate issues it presents, these industries can ensure that electric vehicles continue to evolve and improve, offering innovative and advanced features while maintaining the highest standards of quality, safety, and reliability. The e-Mobility Quality & Reliability Advisory Council of IPC and other organizations are clearing the path for the industry to reach these objectives, guaranteeing a bright and sustainable future for electric vehicles and those who depend on them.

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Organizations involved in Automotive Electronics