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To Power the Future, Carmakers Flip on 48-Volt Systems

posted by Fnord666 on Monday February 26 2018, @12:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the shocking-news dept.

PastTense writes:

Car companies, starting with Volvo last summer, have laid out plans to electrify entire lineups of vehicles. But the fine print makes it clear that the coming decade and beyond will focus not just on massive battery packs powering electric motors, but also on adding a little extra juice to the venerable internal combustion engine.

Increasingly, that juice will arrive in the form of new electrical systems built to a 48-volt standard, instead of the 12-volt systems that have dominated since the 1950s. Simpler than Prius-type drivetrains and less expensive than Tesla-scale battery power, the new electrical architecture both satisfies the demands of cars made more power hungry by their gadget load and enables the use of lower-cost hybrid drive systems.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/business/electric-cars-48-volts.html

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @11:16PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @11:16PM (#644297)

    If you're talking about a simple indicator LED, those are usually 0.7-1V. The ultra-high-brightness ones are probably a little higher, but I've never heard of any diode that had a 2V Vf rating.

    Then you have not looked at many LEDs. A 0.7V indicator LED would be a highly specialized part. Where did you even find such a thing? Can you identify even one currently-available part with less than or equal to 1V Vf typical?

    We can use digikey search filters to get a general feel for what's available in their catalogue. Under the "LED Indication - Discrete" category, they list, based on Vf (typical):

    • 1.2V: 1 part listed (this is the lowest typical Vf in the entire catalogue, and it is a non-stocked item to boot)
    • (zero parts listed between 1.2V and 1.6V)
    • 1.6–1.69V: 84 parts listed
    • 1.7–1.79V: 393 parts listed
    • 1.8–1.89V: 986 parts listed
    • 1.9–1.99V: 1774 parts listed
    • 2.0–2.09V: 5434 parts listed
    • 2.1–2.19V: 3827 parts listed
    • 2.2–2.29V: 2366 parts listed
    • 2.3–2.39V: 308 parts listed

    etc. (The catalogue keeps going all the way up to 14V Vf typical). Note that the numbers include duplicates, e.g., the same component in various kinds of packaging.

    These are indicators so not the same type of LED used for lighting purposes. For that, this is a typical part that could be used for lighting purposes [digikey.ca]: note the Vf typical of 2.95V -- much higher than 0.7V!

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @11:37PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @11:37PM (#644307)

    Note that at the Vf (typical) represents the voltage at some fixed operating current. With a lower current the LED will probably operate at a lower voltage... to a point. Sometimes this information is in the datasheet. If you care about your product yields, it is best to ensure your LED driver circuit can supply at least what is specified for your part.