Vicor, a leader in innovative, high-performance power modules, presents a solution to the challenges of automotive electrification with power modules that offer the highest efficiency and power density.

Bycor announced on the 7th that it presented across five sessions at WCX™, North America’s largest automotive technology event.

WCX™ is an event hosted by the engineering community that addresses key challenges facing the automotive industry, from mass adoption of electric vehicles to the development of autonomous vehicles, as well as global supply chain issues impacting the automotive industry.

Byco made a total of five presentations at this year’s WCX™.

Patrick Kowalyk, Senior Engineer for Automotive Field Applications at Vicor North America, presented on “Solving High-Voltage Precharge Using Existing BEV Hardware.”

Patrick Kowalik presents a method for charging high-voltage buses from low-voltage sources using the power components of battery electric vehicles, and how to control voltage and current by driving the regulator in reverse in the power module.

David McChesney, Strategic Account Manager for Bycor North America, then presented on the topic, “The Uncertain Future of Aftermarket Loads in a 48V World.”br />
David McCheesney said the 12V systems in today’s heavy-duty and super-duty trucks are struggling to handle the high-power loads that need to be addressed if consumers are to effectively utilize their vehicles. In particular, converting high-power 12V loads to 48V would reduce liability issues between OEMs and aftermarket suppliers.

Next, he discussed the issues of leading the architecture transition, the response issues of aftermarket suppliers after trucks are converted to 48V architecture, the response issues for realizing the architecture transition, the measures to be taken for the continuation and future of the current 48V architecture transition, and explained that both OEMs and aftermarket suppliers must utilize high-power density DC-DC converter modules with excellent flexibility and scalability for the architecture transition to proceed smoothly.

Next, Patrick Wadden, Global Vice President, Automotive Business Unit, presented on the topic, “Transitioning to 48V to Ensure High Efficiency, Power Density, and System Cost Effectiveness.”

Patrick Warden presents a practical way to convert 800 V to 48 V using the highest power density converter available.

Bycor has demonstrated a fixed-ratio bus converter module capable of converting high voltage to extra low voltage (SELV) despite its compact size.

Additionally, information was covered on how to convert high-power automotive loads such as active suspension, steer-by-wire, and brake-by-wire to 48V, as well as how Tesla's entire power supply network was converted.

In addition, it provided information on cutting-edge power solutions for the automotive industry that boast the highest efficiency and power density.

Next is Nicola Lozano (Nicola Rosano), Senior Engineer, Strategic Systems EMEA, Vicor, presented on the topic “Compliance with EM Conducted Emissions Regulations for High Voltage Conversion with Switching Frequencies Above 1.3MHz.”

“Mitigating EMI requires sophisticated filtering and shielding techniques, which adds design complexity and cost,” said Nicola Lozano. “Excessive filtering can also reduce efficiency, so effective EMI suppression without compromising converter performance requires a delicate balance. Developing robust systems that meet stringent EMI standards in environments where high-frequency DC-DC converters are used requires complex trade-offs.”

Next, Choi Yeon-gyu, Senior Field Application Engineer (Director) of Bycor APAC, presented on ‘Design of 48V Area Architecture to Maintain High Voltage Inside BEV Battery Pack.’

Director Choi Yeon-gyu said, “Most BEVs have a dual-layer power structure, but if OEMs apply the domain architecture, they need an additional triple-layer power structure including 48V power. Since most DC-DC converters in vehicles have standard power conversion capabilities, adding one or more DC-DC converters to the vehicle can easily respond to the increased power demand. However, in this process, there remains the capacity issue of the DC-DC converter and wire harness.”

Additionally, Bycor installed and demonstrated a variety of power systems at its booth at WCX to demonstrate the differences power modules can make when designing power systems.