Semiconductors are becoming increasingly important in their contribution to vehicular efficiency and safety. They play a significant role in state-of-the-art radar and camera sensors, security, data management, motor control, battery-management systems (BMS), efficiency, as well as environmental comfort. Today, all of this—and more—is integrated and controlled by a high-performance centralized computing system.
Because there are many angles and tangential vectors to this technology, covering them all would require pages and pages of text. Therefore, this article will focus on two of the more critical components of electric-vehicle (EV) technology: intelligent BMS, and safety in the vehicle’s battery disconnect system, particularly the chips that enable it.