A 45-partner European consortium is bringing together the complete power electronics value chain to turn advances in gallium nitride, silicon carbide, integration, digital engineering, and lifecycle design into efficient, reliable mobility solutions for road and sea.
Europe’s transition to climate-neutral mobility depends on more than replacing combustion engines with electric machines. It requires power electronic systems that convert, control, and distribute energy with minimal loss, while using materials responsibly and remaining reliable over long operating lives. HiPower 5.0 addresses that system-level challenge by developing highly integrated electric-drive components based on leading-edge wide-bandgap semiconductors and advanced power electronics integration technologies.
The project builds on the European Green Deal’s ambition to make transport sustainable and on the European Chips Act’s goal of strengthening Europe’s capacity in advanced, energy-efficient semiconductor technologies. Its aim is not an isolated device breakthrough, but an all-European value chain able to translate materials and chip innovation into manufacturable components, validated subsystems, and mobility applications.
HiPower 5.0 follows two earlier collaborative projects. HiPERFORM launched in 2018 by demonstrating the potential of silicon-carbide architectures to reduce losses and improve efficiency in automotive power electronics. HiEFFICIENT subsequently shifted the emphasis towards system integration, intelligence and reliability, including compact and robust gallium-nitride solutions. HiPower 5.0 represents the next step by advancing GaN towards 800 V-class mobility architectures, embedding sustainability into engineering choices and preparing technologies for scalable uptake in automotive and maritime applications.
The ‘5.0’ in the project name reflects this broader perspective. Power Electronics 5.0 is not defined only by advances in switch devices or materials, but also by the need to reconcile high performance with circularity, resource efficiency, intelligence, and lifecycle value. That means investigating new topologies, reducing material demand, improving efficiency, and understanding how products age – from the beginning of the design process rather than after a prototype has already been established.
Christoph Abart, Senior Program Manager R&T at AVL, said: “For AVL, coordinating HiPower 5.0 provides early access to next-generation wide-bandgap semiconductor technologies and strengthens our ability to develop integrated, resource-efficient power electronics solutions, while expanding collaboration across Europe’s semiconductor, automotive, and maritime value chains.”
Five innovation tracks, one integrated ambition
The technical programme concentrates on five complementary innovation tracks. First, the consortium is developing 1200 V GaN devices on two engineered substrate concepts. Second, it is targeting 850 V monolithically integrated bidirectional GaN switches that can enable converter topologies with fewer energy-conversion stages. Third, it is developing integration technologies capable of embedding high-voltage power switches directly into printed circuit boards, extending to 3.3 kV. Fourth, it is coordinating control and predictive-health-management (PHM) methods across timescales – from microsecond electrical stress to long-term ageing. Fifth, it is creating methods to identify the best-fitting components for a value-optimised automotive system.
Together, these tracks support ambitious project-level targets: efficiency increases towards 99%, power-density improvements of up to 100%, a 20% increase in lifetime, and greater use of digital tools throughout development and operation. The targets are strictly interconnected. Higher switching speed, for example, can reduce losses and passive-component size, but it can also create electromagnetic-interference and thermal-management challenges. A successful solution therefore requires simultaneous optimisation of devices, packaging, cooling, control, reliability, and application requirements.
A European value chain from substrate to vehicle
The consortium comprises 44 core partners from industry, research organisations and academia, plus one associated partner. Its structure mirrors the power electronics value chain, beginning with materials and semiconductor technology. Soitec contributes engineered substrate expertise, including development of a 200 mm SmartGaN substrate that combines GaN with a poly-silicon-carbide handle material for demanding lateral high-electron-mobility-transistor applications. Infineon, imec, and CEA contribute device design and manufacturing capabilities, while AT&S and Fraunhofer IZM advance packaging and integration. Universities and research institutes complement this work with device research, fabrication knowledge, and reliability testing.
Andreja Rojko, Director Funding at Infineon Technologies Austria AG, said: “Through HiPower 5.0, Infineon is advancing 850 V monolithically integrated bidirectional GaN switches to enable simpler, more efficient and compact power-electronics systems for future electric mobility and other applications.”
At the component and subsystem level, the challenge is to turn fast-switching devices into compact, controllable, and durable products. TDK Electronics contributes passive components while Denpaflux addresses electromagnetic design. Engineering partners including AVL Software and Functions, Ideas & Motion, Prodrive Technologies and Reden contribute simulation, development, and validation. MAHLE advances electric-drive components, while Lumency develops embedded sensing approaches. This midstream collaboration is essential because the benefits promised at device level only create value when the surrounding module, cooling, sensing, and control architecture can exploit them.
At the application level, Elaphe, Valeo and Schaeffler contribute drivetrain and power electronics expertise, while Mercedes-Benz and Ampere bring vehicle requirements and validation perspectives. Ampere, Renault Group’s EV-focused entity, is using the project to investigate the performance limits of GaN, suitable system topologies, and cost-effective integration in inverters and converters.
Claude Lehongre of Ampere said: “Through HiPower 5.0, Ampere gains early insight into the performance limits of GaN technologies and their optimal system integration, helping us accelerate the development of cost-effective, industrialisable, and competitive power-electronics solutions for future electric powertrains.”
AVL, AVL Moravia, DEIF, and Siemens extend the work to marine power systems, where efficiency, durability, and dependable operation are equally critical. Heliox as an associated partner is assisting with their expertise on charging solutions in the maritime domain.
The result is a continuous two-way flow of knowledge. Application partners define realistic electrical, thermal, durability and lifecycle requirements, while device and integration specialists respond with new technologies. Simulation, testing, and research partners determine whether the resulting systems deliver measurable benefits. This shortens learning cycles and reduces the risk that an impressive laboratory result cannot be industrialised.
Digital engineering across timescales
One central activity is a multi-objective design-space-exploration and optimisation methodology based on system and technology co-optimisation. The objective is to evaluate new devices within their intended applications and, in the opposite direction, translate application needs into technology-level parameters. This creates a more informed development roadmap and helps partners to select components on overall system value rather than on a single headline specification.
The modelling challenge is substantial because relevant phenomena operate at very different timescales. Electrical switching occurs within nanoseconds, thermal behaviour evolves over seconds, and mechanical degradation may develop over hours, months, or even years. HiPower 5.0 is therefore combining multi-physics simulation with reduced-order and data-driven models. The goal is to make calculations fast enough for design exploration, while maintaining an error of less than 10% against experimental measurements.
Instrumented switching cells provide data on semiconductor losses and temperature so that models can be validated. Once the framework is sufficiently accurate, it can simulate realistic mission profiles and connect operating conditions with ageing and lifetime. This supports converter designs that meet defined reliability targets rather than relying only on nominal performance.
Control intelligence is also moving closer to the switching device. Intelligent gate-driver circuits monitor switching transients in real time and are dynamically optimising the drive profile to improve switching-loss and EMI performance.
Imran Arshad of Denpaflux said: “At Denpaflux, HiPower 5.0 lets us address the EMC challenges of frontier GaN and SiC power electronics from day one —the difference between a promising design and a market-ready product.”
That capability illustrates the project’s wider predictive-health-management approach. Information from fast-switching events, thermal indicators, and long-term degradation mechanisms can be combined to detect stress, adapt operation, and improve the use of available lifetime. Reliability becomes an active system function – not merely a pass-or-fail result at the end of development.
Designing sustainability from the start
Efficiency during use is crucial, but it does not tell the complete sustainability story. New semiconductor materials, substrates, packaging routes, and cooling systems all have impacts associated with their production, resource consumption, and end-of-life treatment. HiPower 5.0 therefore applies lifecycle assessment (LCA) early, while design alternatives can still be changed.
Using a delta-LCA approach, the project compares proposed solutions with current state-of-the-art systems and identifies environmental hotspots across manufacturing, operation, and end of life. The work follows ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 principles and considers more than carbon emissions. Critical raw materials, water use, fossil resources, recycling potential, and circular design options are also part of the assessment.
Because many project results are prototypes, the assessments will combine experimental data with established databases, literature, and scenario analysis. This allows uncertainty to be made visible rather than ignored. It also enables engineers to explore trade-offs: a technology may need more energy or material in manufacturing but deliver greater savings during operation, while another may offer high efficiency yet depend on a difficult-to-recover material. The purpose of LCA is to place those choices on a transparent, evidence-based footing.
The same system perspective supports alternative electric-machine concepts. Valeo is investigating electrically excited synchronous machines, which replace permanent magnets with an electrically excited rotor and can reduce reliance on rare earth materials. Combined with next-generation GaN and SiC power modules, this offers a pathway towards powertrains that balance efficiency, power density, material independence, and industrial scalability.
Sebastian Waider, Leading Valeo eMotor Innovation, said: “Through HiPower 5.0, Valeo is advancing rare-earth-free electric drives and more efficient GaN- and SiC-based power electronics, helping to reduce resource dependency and the environmental footprint of future electric vehicles across their lifecycle.”
Research excellence connected to industrial deployment
Universities and research organisations have a cross-cutting role throughout HiPower 5.0. Aalborg University, Eindhoven University of Technology, Politecnico di Torino, RWTH Aachen University, Silicon Austria Labs, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, TNO, TU Chemnitz, TU Dortmund University, the University of West Bohemia, the University of Stuttgart, Virtual Vehicle Research and Vrije Universiteit Brussel contribute modelling, experimental validation, and specialist research. They also support education and knowledge transfer, helping to ensure that Europe develops the skills needed to sustain innovation after the project ends.
Alireza Aghdaei of RWTH-ISEA said: “RWTH-ISEA is contributing an innovative multilevel converter, advanced control, and thermal-condition monitoring to make wide-bandgap power electronics more efficient, reliable, and strategically valuable for European mobility.”
Thermal management is another example of research moving towards deployment. TNO is developing and validating microfluidic two-phase cooling for high-performance applications, combining modelling, and experiments with industrial input. Effective cooling is an enabling technology: as converters become smaller and more powerful, heat must be removed without undermining efficiency, reliability, or environmental performance.
This close connection between research and application is a defining feature of the project. Scientific advances are assessed against real system needs, while industrial partners gain access to models, test methods, and technology options that will guide future products. At the same time, collaboration across the value chain helps to build common understanding around interfaces, requirements, and validation – conditions that are essential for industrial adoption.
Towards competitive, resilient, and circular mobility
HiPower 5.0’s contribution will ultimately be measured at system level. A new device matters when it enables a converter to become more efficient, compact, or durable. A new integration method matters when it can be manufactured and validated. A digital model matters when it changes a design decision, and an environmental assessment matters when it steers development towards a demonstrably better lifecycle outcome.
By linking these elements, the consortium aims to accelerate innovation, improve interoperability, and reduce time to market. It also strengthens European technological sovereignty in semiconductors and electric mobility by connecting capabilities across countries, research disciplines, and industrial sectors. The project’s automotive and maritime demonstrators will provide the proving ground for these integrated solutions over its three-year timeframe.
The broader message is that next-generation mobility cannot be achieved by optimising a single component in isolation. It requires coordinated progress across the entire value chain, from substrate engineering and semiconductor design to packaging, cooling, control, digital validation, lifecycle assessment, and real-world integration. HiPower 5.0 brings those capabilities together, turning Power Electronics 5.0 from a concept into an industrial pathway towards cleaner, more resource-efficient, and resilient European transport.
Acknowledgement
The HiPower 5.0 project (Grant Agreement No. 101194250) is supported by the Chips Joint Undertaking and its members, including top-up funding from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Co-funded by the European Union.
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