Panasonic will begin production of its new conductive polymer hybrid aluminium electrolytic capacitors and power choke coil for automotive use, according to the company’s press release. The new capacitors are compact in size and offer large current supply capacity to electronic control units (ECUs) used in electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and gasoline-powered vehicles. This can enable automotive ECU downsizing and direct mounting on automotive engine ECUs and electromechanical integration. The company will start mass production of the new product in September 2016.
The new compact power choke coil, which will also be used in power supply circuits of automotive ECUs of HEV and EV gasoline-powered vehicles is around 50% lighter in volume than its predecessor. The product offers excellent heat and vibration resistance and will get into mass production this month.
Significance: With increasing number of automakers working to meet stringent regulations on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, the number of ECUs have expanded and with direct mounting on engines instead of engine rooms, electromechanical integration has become a large requirement; the new capacitor is expected to meet this demand. With larger ECUs, and the use of large current in high temperature and vibration environments, the choke coil used in the power supply circuit offers effective noise removal.
