Doosan

[The rapidly growing EV market]

Sales of light electric vehicles reached 6.8 million units in 2021, an increase of approximately 108% over 2020, and the number of electric vehicles sold in 2022 is forecasted to exceed 10 million units. If manufacturing costs are reduced, the charging infrastructure is expanded, and the parts supply chain is stabilized, market penetration of electric vehicles is expected to reach 50% by 2030, exceeding sales of internal combustion engines.

Forecasts for the global electric vehicle market continue to look positive. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have expanded the scale and extended term limits of policies for electric vehicle subsidies. In addition, governments are announcing more in-depth policies concerning carbon neutrality while significant growth of the Electric Vehicle (EV) market is expected to continue. In Korea, the scale of subsidies for electric vehicles is expanding from 75,000 units in 2021 to 164,500 units in 2022.

As EV manufacturers continue to release a diverse range of new models, the fierce competition for dominance in the market between new EV producers and existing automobile OEMs is also fueling market growth.

The number of components required for an EV is about 11,000 parts, which is much fewer than the approximately 30,000 parts required for internal combustion engines. The barrier to market entry is also lower because outsourcing is possible. Recently, major automakers are expanding the market through large-scale investments and new advancements in IT technology-based EV applications from big tech companies are expected to emerge. In fact, the total market share of the top 20 EV models fell from about 60% in 2020 to about 55% in 2021, and competition among OEMs is getting more intense.

[The Future of Smart Mobility: Autonomous Driving]

The autonomous vehicle market is growing just as the conditions for EVs to come into common use are being met. Autonomous driving technology is applied in levels from 1 to 5. Level 1 (assisted driving) and level 2 (partial automation) have been applied and level 3 (conditional autonomous driving) is expected to be implemented around 2025 with levels 4 (high automation) and 5 (full autonomous driving) expected to be developed after 2030. Level 3 or higher autonomous automobiles are predicted to become more popular and account for about 30% of the total automobile market by 2030.

The autonomous automobile market is expected to grow rapidly once two key conditions are met: 1) the expansion of the EV market and 2) the advancement of autonomous driving technology itself. The major energy source for autonomous automobiles is electricity.

As autonomous driving technology advances, the amount of electricity consumed for computing becomes more significant and the weight of components increases. Therefore, electric vehicles are much more favorable than internal combustion engines that require a separate battery, as they can use electricity faster. Additionally, overall driving performance of autonomous automobiles is improving with the advancement of AI technology and deep learning algorithms that improve computing performance. Recently, some vehicles equipped with ADAS functionality are meeting the most important safety prerequisites, showing a lower average accident rate than vehicles driven by a human.

Also, as the level of autonomous driving technology continues to climb, more advanced technology and a larger number of components are required, making the demand for related electric components increase significantly. In particular, the development of external recognition technology such as lidar, radar, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors that interpret the surroundings of vehicles is extremely important. According to our internal research, the external cognitive device market is expected to increase from about 450 million units in 2021 to about 800 million units in 2025.

[Autonomous Driving Radar and PCB Materials]

The radar market is also expanding as Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems have become legalized and even mandatory in some cases. Since this technology is able to measure distances of objects that are far away and is not significantly affected by the weather, it is a critical component that requires 8 or more radars per vehicle over autonomous driving level 3. If 3rd generation radar could support 3D imaging, from the 4th generation onwards, the shortcomings of conventional radar such as low resolution and frequent malfunctions can be eliminated through 4D imaging that measures distance, height, depth, and speed. In addition, 4D imaging also compensates greatly for the weaknesses of lidars and cameras in specific environments.

As radar components continue to advance, large azimuth and precision resolution are made possible through digital beamforming, as opposed to conventional mechanical scanning. These recent advancements make it the ideal time for developing and implementing technology in SOC integrated chips, single-chip structures, miniaturization, light-weight applications, and low power consumption. The high-end conversion of CCL, a core radar PCB material, is also accelerating with the improvement of radar performance. As operation in ultra-high frequency environments for precision sensing becomes more vital, fluorine-based CCL materials with ultra-low loss and lower dielectric constant properties than epoxy-based FR-4 are garnering a lot of attention. In addition, as the flip chip packaging method is applied to radar chipsets, glass fabric type CCL materials have the disadvantage of causing solder cracks and stress points between the chips and the substrates because of their high modulus characteristics. Alternatively, Doosan’s fluorine-based CCL is a glass-free material with a buffer layer and low modulus characteristics that make it favorable over FR-4 materials in terms of reliability.

Fluorine resin is a high-spec material with ultra-low loss characteristics used in the automotive and aerospace fields. With the development of next-generation communication technologies such as 5G mmWave and 6G in full swing, fluorine resin is a material that has come into the spotlight. Doosan Electro-Materials provides an optimized electronic material solution that is meeting customers’ needs by offering fluorine-based CCL materials for automotive radar PCBs with stable electrical characteristics in ultra-high frequency ranges of 77GHz or higher. Furthermore, we plan to provide customers with a lamination solution that will overcome the shortcomings of existing PTFE materials that make multi-layer implementation and processability difficult.

Author: Hyunbin Kim / Marketing Manager

Contact: [email protected]