News: Microelectronics
5 May 2025
Wise-integration presents SiC 7kW demo board for on-board charger for EVs with WiseWare digital control
In booth 450 (Hall 6) at the Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management (PCIM 2025) Expo & Conference in Nuremberg, Germany (6–8 May), fabless company Wise-integration of Hyeres, France — which was spun off from CEA-Leti in 2020 and designs and develops digital control for gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN IC-based power supplies — is debuting its digital controller of a silicon carbide (SiC) power demonstrator model. This underscores its expansion into complementary wide-bandgap (WBG) technologies and showcases its WiseWare digital controller’s universality and adaptability across those technologies.
This represents entry into a new market for Wise-integration — in particular targeting SiC-based high-voltage applications in automotive and industrial sectors — while reinforcing that WiseWare can serve as a common digital intelligence layer, regardless of the underlying semiconductor material.
Building on core GaN expertise
The WiseWare 1 on-board charger (OBC) SIC 7kW power demonstrator model builds on the company’s core expertise in GaN-based systems and digital control ICs, reinforcing its commitment to advancing the full spectrum of power semiconductor technologies. This cross-compatible, digital control solution for both GaN and SiC enables flexible, efficient and intelligent power systems across multiple WBG platforms.
“This demonstration of a silicon-carbide onboard charger marks an important step in Wise-integration’s journey toward the automotive market,” says CEO Thierry Bouchet. “By showing that WiseWare can reliably control high-voltage, high-power systems in an EV-relevant application, we’re validating our digital control platform as a strong candidate for next-generation onboard chargers. It’s a first step toward demonstrating that our technology is scalable, adaptable and aligned with the needs of future EV platforms.”
The demonstrator is a prototype product for the company’s partner Savoy International Group, a tier-1 automotive supplier, whose e-mobility division collaborated with Wise-integration on a GaN charger embedded in e-bike batteries in 2023.
“This prototype has been developed specifically to support the electrification of Savoy’s innovative, light electric vehicles under the KILOW brand, as well as their broader ambition to promote fun, accessible and sustainable mobility solutions,” says Bouchet.
“Our previous collaboration with Wise-integration on the embedded GaN charger for our e-bike battery met all of our expectations for performance and helps us differentiate KILOW in a crowded field,” says Savoy’s CEO Émile Allamand. “The SiC onboard charger will enable us to diversify our EV offerings with a light, four-wheel vehicle under our KILOW brand.”
Differentiators of WiseWare 1 OBC SiC 7kW demonstrator:
- Technology-agnostic control: WiseWare works seamlessly with both GaN and SiC, allowing OEMs to keep control architecture constant, while optimizing the power stage for each use case (cost, power level, thermal profile, etc).
- Digital-first approach: Unlike traditional analog control platforms, Wise-integration virtualizes control functions, enabling simplified designs, faster iterations, and more compact systems.
- Open and modular design philosophy: WiseWare is not tied to a proprietary micro-controller or switch brand. This flexibility makes it attractive to tier-1s and system integrators seeking to reduce vendor lock-in.
Silicon carbide technology delivers excellent thermal performance and is highly efficient under heavy loads, making it suitable for high-power components like traction inverters and fast chargers. Its ruggedness and maturity also contribute to its reliability in the demanding automotive environment. Wise-integration says that WiseWare’s SiC demonstration shows that its digital control platform is technology-agnostic, and can bring the same performance, modularity and intelligence to SiC systems as it does to GaN systems.
Wise-integration showcasing next-gen GaN power solutions at APEC
