Ricardo to develop next generation of EV traction inverters

Ricardo is serving as a primary partner in a £10 million UK Government-backed research initiative focused on integrating energy technologies for affordable and sustainable electric mobility. Led by engineers at Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE), Project SUITE (Smart Use of Integrated Technologies for EVs) incorporates on-board solar panels, intelligent charging systems, Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors, and artificial intelligence to optimize electric vehicle energy utilization, reduce charging expenditures, and support electrical grid stability.

GaN Traction Inverter Development and Power Specs
Within the project scope, Ricardo is collaborating with RAM Innovations to engineer and manufacture an advanced, low-cost Gallium Nitride traction inverter. The power conversion system is being developed across two operational power configurations—50 kW and 150 kW—to align with mainstream passenger vehicles, including the all-new Nissan LEAF platform.

The three-year development initiative forms part of the UK Government’s £4 billion DRIVE35 program, administered by the Department for Business and Trade alongside the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) and Innovate UK.

Power Module Architecture and Reliability Testing
Recent developments in Gallium Nitride semiconductor technology have enabled higher current handling capabilities necessary for high-power automotive traction applications. The power module design is structured to leverage higher electrical switching frequencies while incurring low conduction and switching losses, offering a lower component cost compared to Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductors. These operating characteristics provide higher overall system efficiency and reduce baseline inverter manufacturing costs.

The GaN power modules will undergo testing at the University of Bristol laboratories according to established automotive industry standards. Concurrently, Ricardo is working with weeteq to integrate artificial intelligence control and health monitoring algorithms into the inverter controller to improve long-term component reliability. The resulting powertrain technology is applicable to high-performance passenger vehicles, motorsport applications, and military defense platforms.

Additional Context
This section details technical specifications not included in the original news release.

Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor material possessing an electron mobility and breakdown electric field strength significantly higher than conventional silicon. In electric vehicle traction inverters, these material characteristics allow High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) to switch on and off at much higher frequencies—often in the hundreds of kilohertz range—while maintaining low switching losses.

By increasing the operating switching frequency, the inverter drastically reduces the required inductance and capacitance values for its passive filtering components. This structural reduction allows engineers to shrink the physical volume and mass of internal inductors, capacitors, and EMI filters, leading to higher power density per liter. Furthermore, GaN devices exhibit lower reverse recovery charges during high-frequency switching cycles, which decreases internal heat dissipation, relaxes thermal management requirements, and improves DC-to-AC power conversion efficiency across urban driving cycles.

Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.