Editor's note: Driven by the electrification, networking, intelligence, and sharing of automobiles, automotive electronics has stood in front of the industry and ushered in a new round of outbreak. Zongheng of the semiconductor industry has specially launched the "Vertical and Horizontal Topic: Automotive Electronics Special" to see the latest progress of automotive electronics from the perspective of application, and the latest progress of automotive electronics from the perspective of application. The first issue is "Intelligent Cockpit Chip", the second issue is "On-board CIS Chip", and this issue focuses on the new energy vehicle leader: Tesla. Industry experts are also welcome to exchange and contribute.
The "Porsche" in the field of new energy vehicles is a dominant one, and is in the same grade as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other luxury cars, and is regarded as a high-end model - Tesla.
According to data provided by Tesla, it sold 1790,000, which means that Nissan, BYD, and Volkswagen combined can't compare to Tesla. All this shows that Tesla is gaining a firm foothold in the field of new energy vehicles, and it is difficult to shake it.
How did this catfish, which was newly put into the pool, stir up "a pool of spring water"?
A unique intelligent driving system
On November 24, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla's FSD (Full Self-Driving) beta is now available to all North American paying car owners.
It is understood that Tesla's FSD Beta began testing in 2020 and was initially only available to a small number of customers, and has since gradually expanded to about 160,000 car owners. Experiencing Tesla FSD Beta typically also requires owners to meet Tesla's built-in safety score requirements and a 100-mile record of Autopilot, an advanced driver assistance feature. Now fully open, FSD Beta no longer examines user ratings and familiarity, and only costs an additional $15,000 (about 10.).70,000 RMB).
In fact, FSD has been the focus of criticism because the product did not live up to expectations in Musk's statement. In October 2016, Musk first announced plans for the FSD, after he said at a technical conference that he believed that autonomous driving was "basically a solved problem", and in 2019 said that within about a year, Tesla's technology would develop to the point of unmanned driving.
That being said, Tesla's intelligent driving system has the ability to continuously improve through continuous learning and updating. Using advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, Tesla is able to collect driving data from Tesla vehicles around the world and turn that data into real-time improvements and optimizations through over-the-air updates. This dynamic learning method enables Tesla vehicles to gradually adapt to various traffic scenarios and complex road conditions, improving driving safety and efficiency.
As well as Tesla's emphasis on user experience and comfort. Tesla's intelligent driving system is designed with a focus on user-friendliness, making driving easier and more convenient. Users can activate autonomous driving functions with a simple touchscreen operation, while the system automatically controls the vehicle when feasible, providing the driver with more leisure time. This user-friendly design makes Tesla's intelligent driving system stand out in the market and has received widespread attention and recognition.
Leading automotive electrical architecture
In order to support the future sensor architecture of autonomous driving models, the leading electrical architecture has received more and more attention and has become the cornerstone of supporting the sensor architecture.
Tesla's self-driving electrical architecture.
First, its highly integrated electrification system allows the motor, battery and electronic control system to work together to improve overall energy efficiency. Tesla's electric vehicle's power battery pack uses lithium-ion battery technology with superior energy density. For example, the battery pack of the Tesla Model S Long Range is capable of providing a range of 370 miles (about 595 kilometers), showing the superior performance of advanced battery technology.
Tesla also emphasizes the critical role of software in the car's electrical architecture, continuously delivering new software features and performance improvements through over-the-air updates. Tesla has implemented several software updates to bring autopilot enhancements, navigation system improvements, and user interface upgrades to car owners. This flexible software update mechanism enables Tesla vehicles to continuously evolve and improve.
Today, Tesla's Model 3 has halved the length of the wiring harness compared to the models, thanks to the innovation of the new electronic and electrical architecture. Specifically, it is divided into domain control architecture and power distribution architecture. The control of driver assistance and entertainment systems is integrated into the CCM** calculation module. The power distribution architecture takes into account the power redundancy requirements required by the current highly automated driving assistance systems.
Electronically controlled SiC, look at its back
Tesla faces greater challenges with its battery management system (BMS) than many other models. Tesla uses a large number of 21,700 cylindrical ternary lithium batteries to form a battery system, which makes the number of battery cells large. Ordinary BMS systems cannot meet the management needs of so many batteries. Tesla has independently developed BMS battery management technology and adopted a master-slave architecture, that is, a "one master and four slaves" management mode. In the "Penthouse" location of the battery pack, there is a master BMU center with four BMS system lines distributed among them. In addition, all battery electronic control systems are integrated in the Penthouse location, which is also a feature that Tesla is proud of.
Tesla's BMS system has a modular design, which can still adapt well even when using different types of batteries, showing a high degree of inclusiveness. The two-stage method is used for cell balancing, which prolongs the service life of the battery cell and reduces the battery cell power attenuation.
In addition to structural design, Tesla motors have also put a lot of effort into material selection. For example, the silicon carbide used in the motor. Due to technology and cost constraints, silicon carbide is only used in some high-end models in the industry, but Tesla Model 3 and Model Y all use this material. Silicon carbide has obvious advantages:
High temperature stability and power density improvement:Silicon carbide has excellent high-temperature stability and is able to maintain high conductivity at high temperatures. This makes silicon carbide suitable for the manufacture of high-power electronic components in electric vehicles. The data shows that compared with traditional silicon materials, silicon carbide semiconductors can achieve higher power density at higher temperatures, improving the overall efficiency of the electronic control system of electric vehicles.
Improve charging efficiency and range:The electronic control system with silicon carbide technology can reduce the loss of power conversion, thereby improving the charging efficiency of electric vehicles. By reducing heat loss from electrical energy conversion, electric vehicles can use the energy stored in the battery more efficiently, which in turn increases the range. Tesla has made extensive use of silicon carbide technology in its models to provide users with longer driving ranges.
Efficient power electronics:Silicon carbide semiconductor devices have more advantages in electrical conductivity and electron transport than traditional silicon materials. This high-efficiency power electronics can be used in key components such as DC-DC converters and inverters in electric vehicles to improve the performance of the entire electric vehicle system. Compared with traditional silicon materials, silicon carbide power devices have faster switching speeds, making the conversion of electrical energy faster and more accurate.
Tesla uses silicon carbide technology to improve charging efficiency, but its procurement** is more expensive than IGBT. Tesla cooperated with San'an Optoelectronics to replace all IGBTs with silicon carbide MOSFETs, and ** a single piece machine will cost 3,500 yuan after all the replacement of MOSFETs. A 5-7% increase in charging efficiency can reduce electricity costs and increase gross profit margins. Silicon carbide single motor board** is higher, but it can save the number of components and cost. The 6-inch commercial silicon carbide production line of China Resources Micro has entered mass production. Tesla's replacement of IGBT with silicon carbide can reduce the volume of on-board OBC by 55-60%, reduce energy loss by 25-30%, and increase the conversion efficiency to 965%。The number of dependent components in the charging pile will be converted from 6 to 12, and the cost will increase by 17 times. As intelligence continues to increase, there is an increasing need to increase power and reduce the size of components such as OBC to improve performance.
In addition, Tesla uses silicon carbide MOSFET materials to improve the efficiency of the inverter, which has significantly improved the range of electric vehicles. The procurement of silicon carbide devices needs to refer to the substrate, long-diameter process maturity and PVT crystal transformation of long crystals. The rod pulling process is an important part of Tesla's automobile production, and the average production efficiency in China is low, and Kerui can produce long crystals with a length of up to 40mm. Kerui can produce 1,200 chips in 1 furnace and 1 day on average, and the effective production time is 10 months. Tesla has partnered with the Wolfspeed division to produce silicon carbide and gallium nitride materials. Tesla's epitaxial cost is reasonable, accounting for 22-23% of the total cost. Tesla's use of silicon carbide MOSFET materials to improve the efficiency of the inverter has significantly improved the range of electric vehicles.
The catfish effect is still the same: leading the industry and challenging the industry
At the beginning, Tesla was called Musk's "unrealistic crazy dream", but now, Tesla is not only a car, but also an intelligent platform, which has put a new "catfish" into the car and even the entire industry, stirring up the ecology and exploring new paths. Through software updates, data analytics, and cloud computing, we are continuously improving the functionality and value of our vehicles. Tesla has also built a complete energy ecosystem through its own charging network, energy storage devices, and solar panels, providing users with a more convenient and environmentally friendly travel experience.
For example, in 2018, Tesla joined hands with STMicroelectronics to take the lead in applying SiC chips to the Model 3 to replace traditional IGBT chips, improving system efficiency by about 5, resulting in a significant improvement in battery life. Today, STMicroelectronics announced that it has signed a long-term supply agreement for silicon carbide (SiC) with Li Auto. Under the terms of the agreement, ST will supply Li Auto's silicon carbide MOSFETs to support Li Auto's strategic deployment into the high-voltage electric vehicle market. According to reports, Li Auto's upcoming 800V high-voltage pure electric platform will use ST's third-generation 1200V SiC MOSFET technology in the electric drive inverter.
In addition, Tesla has also broken the conventions and rules of the traditional automotive industry and established its own unique business model. Tesla directly contacts users through online sales and self-operated stores, eliminating the link of middlemen, reducing costs and **.
The market for electric vehicles is growing, and luxury automakers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW are stepping into the space. Analysts**, total global EV sales will account for about 29% of all new car sales by 20305%。But Tesla's long-term success is anyone's guess. In December 2014, Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas** said the company's goal of producing 500,000 vehicles by 2020 would fall short of 40%. However, by the end of 2020, Tesla had produced more than 510,000 vehicles, 2% above its target.
As with anything, there are no guarantees. The reality is that Tesla Motors has transformed from a startup to a full-fledged industry player. What hasn't changed is its remarkable story and its status as a pioneer at the forefront of electronic vehicles.