ZF to Purchase SiC Devices from STMicroelectronics for New Inverter Architecture

ZF, a company that provides systems for automobiles, commercial vehicles, and industrial systems, has signed a multi-year agreement with STMicroelectronics to purchase SiC devices starting from 2025. Under the terms of the contract, ST will supply ZF with several million SiC devices in the two-digit range, which will be integrated into ZF's new modular inverter architecture and go into mass production by 2025.

ST will produce SiC chips in its manufacturing facilities in Italy and Singapore, package them into advanced STPAK packaging developed by ST, and test them in its back-end factories in Morocco and China. From 2025, ST will provide ZF with several million third-generation SiC MOSFET devices in the two-digit range. ZF stated that it can connect many such devices together to meet customer performance requirements without changing the inverter design. Additionally, ZF will use this technology in an automotive inverter for a European automaker, which plans to begin production in 2025.

Stephan von Schuckmann, a member of the ZF Management Board responsible for electric vehicles and material management, stated, "With this strategic step, we are strengthening our supply chain to be able to safely serve our customers. By 2030, our total order volume in the field of electric vehicles has exceeded 30 billion euros. For this quantity, we need several reliable SiC device suppliers." "We now have a supplier that meets our requirements in complex systems and, most importantly, can produce devices in high quality and required quantity."

Marco Monti, ST's Automotive and Discrete Group President, stated, "As a vertically integrated company, we are heavily investing in expanding our production capacity, developing the SiC supply chain to support global and European customers in the automotive and industrial industries to achieve electrification and decarbonization goals. The key to the success of electric vehicle technology is greater scalability and modularity, improving efficiency, peak power, and affordability.