NexGen Power Systems, a global leader in the design, development, and manufacture of Vertical GaN semiconductors for high-power applications, has announced that its collaborative project with General Motors had been awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) for the development of electric drive systems using NexGen's Vertical GaN semiconductors.

The joint development project aims to enhance the efficiency, performance, and overall sustainability of electric vehicles and intends to focus its efforts on power electronics design, motor integration, thermal management, and system-level optimization for electric drive systems.

"We are excited that the DoE award gives us the opportunity to develop GaN-based electric drive systems with a leading automotive manufacturer like General Motors," said Shahin Sharifzadeh, Chief Executive Officer of NexGen. "This collaboration will help us introduce Vertical GaN-based inverter drive systems to the electric vehicle market and will help enable automakers to improve range, reduce weight, and enhance system reliability."

This announcement builds on NexGen's February 2023 announcements regarding the availability of engineering samples for its 700V and 1200V semiconductors. NexGen's current generation 1200V, 1 Ohm, Vertical GaN e-mode Fin-jFETs have successfully demonstrated >1 MHz switching at 1.4kV rated voltage, making the NexGen devices important to continued performance, reliability, and efficiency improvements in the electric vehicle market.

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