Marelli Boosts Investment in EV Technologies

Automotive supplier Marelli forms a strategic partnership with Transphorm, a semiconductor company focused on redefining power conversion.

“This partnership will enable Marelli to gain valuable access and insights into cutting-edge technologies for the development of electric vehicles, in particular power converters, onboard chargers and inverters for electric and hybrid vehicles,” the company says in a news release.

Marelli describes Transphorm as the leading player in the gallium nitride (GaN) market, providing high-performance, high-reliability GaN devices for high-voltage power conversion applications.

“Access to their technologies will be of strategic benefit to Marelli, as it looks at ways to grow through innovation within its electric powertrain business,” the release says. “Direct investment in power electronics of this kind will mean a substantial step in the evolution of the electric powertrain solutions, with higher efficiency and lower system costs, eventually resulting in benefits for customers and final consumers.”

Marelli and Transphorm engineers will work together on product development relevant to Marelli’s ongoing investment in powertrain solutions for EVs and for motorsport applications. Transphorm will exclusively cooperate with Marelli for two years on new EV technologies.

“Electric vehicle power conversion is fundamentally important to the future of electric vehicles, and investment in technologies like this are critical to ensure the very highest performance of electric vehicles at a lower cost,” says Joachim Fetzer, CEO-electric powertrain for Marelli. “We are delighted to partner with Transphorm, who are true leaders in the market.”

Adds Primit Parikh, Transphorm co-founder and chief operating officer, “Automotive and EVs represent one of the largest opportunities for GaN in power conversion and our partnership with a global leader like Marelli is a strong testament to the quality, reliability, manufacturing and overall product performance of our GaN solutions.”

Marelli is a global Tier 1 automotive supplier created in 2019 when Magneti Marelli was spun off from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and merged with Japanese parts maker Calsonic Kansei.