Europe’s Largest Electric Vehicle Research Project

As part of the E3Car project and by the end of 2011, Europe is targeting research on innovative electronic components that play a key role in electric vehicle power consumption. Research will focus primarily on semiconductor components and power modules that control the supply and distribution of power in electric vehicles. These are used in the powertrain, which consumes most of the car’s energy, as well as in power converters and lithium-ion batteries. Project efforts are concentrated on extending the travel range per battery charge, on integrating components to make the battery, charge unit and power distribution network lighter and more compact, and on increasing the efficiency of the power converter so that as much battery charge as possible is used to drive the vehicle and is not lost through heat dissipation. Infineon’s contribution is the further development of power semiconductors and modules.

The total budget for the three-year E3Car project is around Euro 44 million, half of which is funded by the 33 industry and research partners. The other half is provided by the ENIAC (European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory Council) organization and eleven funding organizations in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. One of the largest sponsors is the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The German Federal Government is pursuing a holistic strategy. The ”National Development Plan on Electric-Drive Vehicles”, approved by the German Federal Cabinet on August 19, 2009, harmonizes and coordinates for the first time all relevant measures – from education and competence building at universities and colleges, through battery development, network integration and power management, to market preparation. The plan is designed to ensure that the whole concept of electric mobility – ranging from basic research to new business models – is adopted in Germany so that value added is generated in Germany and new future-proof jobs are created. The goal is to have one million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020. In total, the Federal Government is funding electric mobility to the tune of Euro 700 million, Euro 500 million of which come from the government’s second economic stimulus package.

Further information on the E3Car research project and the project partners is available at www.E3Car.eu

Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, communications, and security. In the 2008 fiscal year (ending September), the company reported sales of Euro 4.3 billion with approximately 29,100 employees worldwide. With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the U.S. from Milpitas, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore, and in Japan from Tokyo. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.