Transform, Inc. (NASDAQ stock code TGAN), a leading global supplier of gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductors, has announced the launch of two new reference designs for electric vehicle charging applications. The 300W and 600W constant current/constant voltage (CC/CV) battery chargers use Transform's 70 milliohm and 150 milliohm SuperGaN devices to achieve efficient AC-DC power conversion and high power density at a highly competitive cost. These two reference designs are aimed at helping two and three wheeled electric vehicle chargers achieve rapid mass production.

It is reported that the annual sales of two wheeled and three wheeled electric vehicles in India and China exceed 14 million and 45 million respectively. In addition, these two reference designs can also be used for various other applications, including fast charging, LED dimmable drivers, game consoles, and high-performance laptops.

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Tushar Dhayagude, Vice President of Global Sales and FAE at Transform, stated: The application of gallium nitride is rapidly becoming popular in the electric vehicle market. This is mainly because compared to alternative options such as silicon carbide or silicon, gallium nitride technology can achieve high power density with a cost-effective and high yield manufacturing process. It is worth mentioning that the SuperGaN components of the Transformer have received widespread attention and recognition from two wheel and three wheel vehicle manufacturers, as compared to silicon solutions, our solution not only has the above advantages, but also In addition, it also has cost advantages at the system and device levels. We are pleased to launch corresponding reference designs based on customers' continuous design requirements, helping manufacturers of built-in or external chargers accelerate the launch of gallium nitride based systems, improving the performance and availability of the new generation of vehicles

What is CC/CV?

The constant current/constant voltage (CC/CV) lithium-ion battery charging method adopts constant current charging in the initial stage of charging, and switches to constant voltage charging in the later stage when the battery reaches the set charging amount to prevent overcharging.

Open architecture CC/CV AC-DC battery charger

The newly released 300 W and 600 W reference designs pair SuperGaN FETs with controllers using the popular Power Factor Correction (PFC) and Harmony LLC topology, with LLC specifically designed for a wide battery range (from empty to full charge). By utilizing the SuperGaN platform of Transformer, power system developers can maximize the performance potential of PFC+LLC and achieve the highest efficiency that these topologies can achieve at the most competitive cost.

These two reference designs use pure analog controllers instead of digital controllers that require firmware. This configuration has several advantages, such as easier design and simplified product development, for the following reasons:

·Reduced requirements for development resources

·Shortened development time

·No need for potentially complex firmware programming/maintenance

Note: The 300W reference design includes an additional PWM input port to obtain output current below the rated output value, further improving flexibility in handling various types of batteries.