Navitas, a company that makes super-fast phone chargers, targets EV industry

A GaN semiconductor operates up to 20x faster than silicon and makes it possible to deliver up to 3x more power and 3x faster charging in half the size and weight.

In January, Navitas Semiconductor, opened a center in Shanghai, China, to work with electric vehicle manufacturers develop their own GaN systems.

“The same thing we’re doing at 50 watts for a phone or a tablet, we’re going to do that for 5,000 watts or 20,000 watts to fast-charge your EV,” Navitas CEO Gene Sheridan said in press conference

With Navitas’ technology, an electric vehicle could charge at a consumer’s home in a third of the time it currently takes.

If that same new technology is used inside the electric car, the car’s range could be increased by close to 30%, or the size of the battery could be decreased by 30%, both advantages in their own way.

• Navitas CEO says his company’s chip technology is faster, cooler and more efficient

illustration by Navitas inc

The technology is still relatively new, and not widespread yet!

Because it’s still expensive and requires customers to redesign their entire charging systems, but Sheridan explains that the cost will come down as scale increases.

“Now, it’s only 10 to 20% more expensive, but within two years, it’ll be the same cost or cheaper,” he says.

“It’s a powerful chip. But to do it right, you have to redesign the whole power system around that chip and that requires a lot of new skills.”

Source: Navitas

Picture by:Navitas.inc