Development trends of power semiconductors for hybrid vehicles

In the environmentally-friendly vehicles that are powered by electric motors, as represented by hybrid vehicles (HVs), enhancing the performance and reducing the size of the power semiconductors are becoming essential for vehicles to achieve low-fuel consumption and high-power performance. This is also the case for HV systems to facilitate adoption in multiple vehicle models. This paper looks back on the development of these power semiconductors up to the present in response to the advancement of HVs. It also surveys the future trends in power semiconductor development toward achieving the ultimate-eco vehicle.