MUNICH, Germany — The electrification of the automotive power train currently bestows chip makers such as Infineon a high demand for its automotive related business. The market success for e-cars however will depend on many factors, explained Infineon CEO Peter Bauer.

In a press roundtable at the opportunity of the eCarTec congress in Munich Bauer said Infineon currently sees strong demand for automotive products for two reasons: First, companies along the value chain continue restocking. Second, R&D efforts around the globe aiming at developing electric and hybrid drives are "immense". Bauer sees a veritable "race to catch up" in this technology segment.

While European OEMs and tier ones are well positioned and possess strong expertise, China seems to be determined to lead the market. "China approaches the topic [of electric and hybrid drives] with enormous power", Bauer said. He added that he sees Infineon in a good competitive position, having achieved five major design wins so far.

Bauer also said he sees the political will as well as a high degree of entrepreneurial determination in the automotive and related industry to bring electric and hybrid drive vehicles to market. With performance and price of the battery being the decisive elements for the market success, charging infrastructure will play a critical role. But as it is the case with any chicken-and-egg problem it might take incentives to drive acceptance. "I don't believe that a national charging infrastructure could be established without the public authorities", Bauer said. Incentives could also come from OEMs or energy providers. "Otherwise the cost difference [between conventional and hybrid or electric car] will be very significant for quite some time."

The drive train electrification will also drive demand for innovation in telematics — eventually, Bauer said. "For vehicles with a limited driving range but some constant power sinks such as heating or lighting it will become very important to establish very efficient traffic control and congestion avoidance techniques," he said, adding that telematics and car-to-x communications could offer solutions for these problems. However, the additional semiconductor demand for such solutions will only emerge when electric vehicles make up a significant share of the traffic. For this reason, a telematics boom is a dream of the future. "For the time being I don't see this push yet," Bauer said.

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