KEY SUMMARY:

• EV performance is shifting from a semiconductor-only focus to a system-level approach integrating materials, packaging, thermal management, and manufacturing. 
• Insights from APEX EXPO 2026 underscore the role of advanced materials, including silicon carbide (SiC), along with improved thermal interfaces and high-voltage contamination control. 
• Companies that align materials science, design, and precision manufacturing will lead the next wave of EV power electronics innovation.

By Stan Rak, SF Rak Company, APEX EXPO Technical Program Committee Co-chair

At APEX EXPO 2026, one message came through clearly: improving electric vehicle (EV) performance isn’t just about better semiconductors – it’s about everything around them: materials, packaging, heat management, and manufacturing precision.

As automakers push toward higher voltages and more powerful systems, these supporting technologies are becoming real differentiators.

Beyond the Chip

Work presented by Lars Böttcher of Fraunhofer IZM Berlin showed how silicon carbide (SiC) devices continue to enable faster, more efficient power electronics. But simply using better chips isn’t enough.

New approaches, like embedding power devices directly into circuit boards and replacing traditional wire connections with solid copper, are reducing energy loss and improving reliability. The result: smaller, more efficient systems that can handle higher power.

What this means: Better packaging is as important as better semiconductors.

Materials are a Competitive Advantage

In his presentation, Dr. Michael Jörger of Heraeus Electronics detailed how materials were once a background consideration. That’s no longer the case.

To handle higher speeds, temperatures, and voltages, manufacturers need materials that can:

• Conduct electricity efficiently 
• Move heat away quickly 
• Stay stable under stress 

This is driving changes across substrates, interconnects, and manufacturing processes—and requiring closer coordination across the supply chain.

What this means: Materials selection is a key driver of performance, not just a cost decision.

Heat is the Limiting Factor

A presentation by Emin Skiljan of Indium Corporation detailed how, as power increases, so does heat, a major constraint on performance and reliability.

New thermal interface materials (the layers that transfer heat from components) are showing significant improvements, offering better heat transfer and more consistent long-term performance than traditional options.

What this means: The ability to manage heat effectively will determine how far performance can scale.

Cleanliness Matters More at High Voltage

Research presented by Jeffrey Kennedy of ZESTRON Europe showed that at higher voltages (400–800V and beyond), even tiny contaminants can cause failures.

What’s changing is how cleanliness is measured. It’s no longer enough to count particles—manufacturers must understand whether those particles can actually conduct electricity and trigger failures.

What this means:  Reliability depends on understanding which contaminants matter, not how many.

Everything is Now Connected

Work from Rajesh Mandamparambil, NXP Semiconductors, and others highlighted that power electronics are no longer standalone components. They’re increasingly integrated with sensors, controls, and other vehicle systems.

That creates new challenges:

• More heat concentrated in smaller spaces 
• More complex packaging approaches 
• Higher reliability expectations tied to safety 

What this means: Power electronics must be designed as part of the full vehicle system, not in isolation.

The Bottom Line

The path to higher-performance EV power electronics is no longer just about advancing semiconductor devices. It requires coordinated progress across materials, packaging, thermal management, and manufacturing.

Companies that can bring all these elements together, rather than optimizing them separately, will have the advantage.

Read More

The industry continues to shift toward system-level reliability, where materials, packaging, thermal management, and cleanliness define performance. These topics and more are being explored in my Road to Reliability series in SMT007 Magazine. https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1544707-smt007-may2026/51? 

Key Summary:

• Electronics underpins the energy transition: From EV infrastructure to smart grids and AI systems, advanced electronics is the enabling layer—creating a strategic opportunity to lead through circular design, material recovery, and lower-carbon manufacturing.
• AI-driven energy demand is a turning point: Rapid data center growth is intensifying electricity needs, pushing electronics companies to align product design and sourcing with renewable energy and storage to stay competitive and mitigate regulatory risk.
• Talent and collaboration are now decisive advantages: Sustainability expertise across the workforce and cross-industry collaboration—often moving faster than regulation—are becoming critical to meeting global requirements, managing Scope 3 emissions, and securing market access.

By Alexander Bryden, Senior Vice President, Browning Environmental Communications 

Last week, Washington D.C.’s second annual Climate Week (DCCW) brought together more than 7,000 attendees to advance solutions to the sustainability challenges reshaping industries and communities worldwide. For electronics professionals — engineers, supply chain leaders, manufacturers, and policymakers alike — the conversations that unfolded in D.C. provided key insights on the opportunities and pressures ahead.
 

Here are insights from DCCW for the electronics sector on a global scale.

Electronics is the Infrastructure Sustainability Runs On
From EV charging networks and smart grids to solar inverters and AI-powered climate modelling, the technologies at the heart of DCCW’s sustainability agenda, share a common dependency: advanced electronics. The sector is not simply a bystander in the energy transition — it is the enabling layer.
 

This recognition should translate into strategic confidence. Electronics manufacturers and component suppliers are uniquely positioned to accelerate progress across industries by designing for circularity: products that can be disassembled at end-of-life so critical materials (e.g. rare earths, copper, lithium, cobalt) can be recovered and reintegrated into supply chains. Establishing circular manufacturing norms in electronics does not just reduce the sector’s own footprint; it creates a more resilient and lower-carbon foundation for every industry that depends on it.

AI and Data Center Growth are Reshaping the Energy Calculus

The exponential growth in AI infrastructure dominated energy discussions at DCCW. Data centers are a significant driver of electricity demand globally, prompting urgent conversations about how that demand is met.

For electronics, this creates a dual mandate. First, the industry supplies the physical infrastructure that makes AI possible: processors, cooling systems, power management ICs, and connectivity hardware. Second, the energy intensity of that infrastructure is under scrutiny. Pairing renewable sources like solar and wind with battery storage that can dispatch power on demand is emerging as the preferred model for powering next-generation data centers.

Electronics companies that align their product roadmaps and procurement strategies with low-carbon energy infrastructure are future-proofing against regulatory risk and positioning themselves as preferred partners in one of the fastest-growing markets globally.

Workforce Development is a Competitive Differentiator 
Sustainability is no longer a specialism confined to CSR teams. Across the electronics value chain, sustainability literacy is becoming a core operational competency. DCCW made clear that companies falling behind on workforce development risk falling behind on sustainability performance overall.
 

The conversation has also evolved beyond awareness training. Organizations are now deploying machine learning and AI tools to manage the data intensity of sustainability reporting, streamline lifecycle assessment, and identify emissions hotspots across complex global supply chains. Equipping teams with the skills to work alongside these tools can be the differentiator between companies that meet their sustainability targets and those that miss them.

Collaboration is Outpacing Regulation 

Perhaps the most striking feature of DCCW’s atmosphere was its energy. Despite ongoing shifts in U.S. federal climate and environmental policy, the event reflected a broad consensus across the private sector, civil society, and international stakeholders: Sustainability progress is not contingent on any single government’s direction.
 

For a global industry like electronics — where supply chains span dozens of countries and products are designed for world markets — this is an important signal. The collaborative frameworks being built at events like DCCW, across decarbonization, supplier transparency, and circular economy standards, are increasingly shaping the conditions of market access and customer expectations, independent of any one regulatory environment.
 

Whether the priority is decarbonizing Scope 3 emissions, meeting the EU’s ESPR product requirements, or responding to customer sustainability scorecards, every organization in the electronics ecosystem has both a stake and a role. DCCW demonstrated that the ambition to deliver is widely shared.

Looking Ahead

DC Climate Week made one thing unmistakable: the pace of sustainability action is accelerating, and the electronics industry is at its center. The organizations that engage now — in the collaborative forums, in the technology development, in the workforce investments — will be the ones that define what sustainable electronics looks like for the next decade.
 

We were energized by what we witnessed in D.C. and look forward to continuing these conversations with the broader electronics community.