Bosch to acquire TSI Semiconductors, injecting $1.5B to meet SiC chip demand for EVs
The world’s largest auto supplier is expanding its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities to meet the growing demand for computer chips for electric vehicles. Bosch announced Wednesday that it is acquiring US chipmaker TSI Semiconductor and investing $1.5 billion to produce silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors and enable the adoption of EVs.
Bosch has been busy transforming its business as the auto industry shifts to sustainable, zero-emission EVs.
Bosch has invested heavily in introducing new products such as electric powertrains, charging solutions, and electric drives to meet the growing demand for EVs and enable the transition.
President of Bosch in North America, Mike Mansuetti, explained last year that the auto industry is “rapidly evolving” toward electric vehicles. The tech and engineering giant expanded its North American manufacturing footprint, revealing in October a new $250 million investment to extend its Charleston, South Carolina, campus by roughly 75,000 square feet to build and assemble electric motors.
Manusuetti added, “Local production helps advance our customer’s regional electrification strategies and further supports the market demand for electrification.”
Bosch is again expanding its North American manufacturing capabilities with plans to acquire Roseville, California-based chipmaker TSI Semiconductors.
Bosch acquires chipmaker to produce SiC chips for EVs
Bosch revealed Wednesday it would be acquiring the chipmaker with plans to invest $1.5 billion in the Roseville site to convert and prepare the facility for the auto industry’s future.
Starting in 2026, Bosch will produce the first chips on 200-millimeter wafers based on silicon carbide (SiC) material. Bosch has been producing SiC chips since 2021 at its Reutlingen location in Germany, so the company knows what it takes to make them.
With EV sales continuing to rise at a record pace, the number of chips needed is only expected to grow from here. Bosch expects to have an average of 25 of its chips in every new EV by 2025.
SiC chips, in particular, are in heavy demand as they enable greater range and more efficient recharging losing up to 50% less energy.
According to Bosch, the full scope of the project is made possible and will rely heavily on federal funding opportunities.
The Biden administration is investing heavily to promote North American manufacturing and the adoption of sustainable transportation and clean energy in the US. The historic Inflation Reduction Act, passed last August, provides incentives and rebates to purchase EVs (up to $7,500 for new and $4,000 for used) and other clean energy alternatives (example: 30% solar tax credit) that will help drive down energy costs in the long run.
In addition, the Chips and Science Act, signed into law last year, invests in US chip-making capabilities to strengthen the domestic supply chain and enable clean energy adoption.
Regarding the Bosch acquisition and investment, the following statement from Vice President Kamala Harris was provided to Electrek:
This $1.5 billion investment will bring down costs, strengthen our electric vehicle supply chain, help rebuild American manufacturing, and create economic opportunity for the working families of California. And it will put more electric vehicles on the road, a priority I have worked for since I served in the United States Senate. All of this was made possible by our Administration’s Invest in America agenda. Unfortunately, House Republicans are working to undo our progress. They want to defund American manufacturing and ship jobs overseas. President Biden and I will never let that happen.
According to a recent analysis from the Financial Times, in the eight months since the Chips and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act were signed, over $200 billion in private investments in the US has been announced.
With the Biden administration aiming for a 50% electric vehicle sales share by 2030, the number is only expected to continue rising.
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In a joint statement, French and German economists have called on governments to adopt “a common approach” to decarbonize European trucking fleets – and they’re calling for a focus on fully electric trucks, not hydrogen.
France and Germany are the two largest economies in the EU, and they share similar challenges when it comes to freight decarbonization. The two countries also share a border, and the traffic between the two nations generates major cross-border flows that create common externalities between the two countries.
At the same time, the EU’s transport sector has struggled to reduce emissions at the same rate as other industries – and road freight in particular is a major contributor to harmful carbon emissions issue due to that industry’s heavy reliance on diesel-powered trucks.
And for once, it seems like rail isn’t a viable option:
While rail remains competitive mainly for heavy, homogeneous goods over long distances. Most freight in Europe is indeed transported over distances of less than 200 km and involves consignment weights of up to 30 tonnes (GCEE, 2024) In most such cases, transportation by rail instead of truck is not possible or not competitive. Moreover, taking into account the goods currently transported in intermodal transport units over distances of more than 300 km, the modal shift potential from road to rail would be only 6% in Germany and less than 2% in France.
That leaves trucks – and, while numerous government incentives currently exist to promote the parallel development of both hydrogen and battery electric vehicle infrastructures, the study is clear in picking a winner.
“Policies should focus on battery-electric trucks (BET) as these represent the most mature and market-ready technology for road freight transport,” reads the the FGCEE statement. “Hence, to ramp-up usage of BET public funding should be used to accelerate the roll-out of fast-charging networks along major corridors and in private depots.”
The appeal was signed by the co-chair of the advisory body on the German side is the chairwoman of the German Council of Economic Experts, Monika Schnitzer. Camille Landais co-chairs the French side. On the German side, the appeal was signed by four of the five experts; Nuremberg-based energy economist Veronika Grimm (who also sits on the National Hydrogen Council, which is committed to promoting H2 trucks and filling stations) did not sign.
You can read an English version of the CAE FGCEE joint statement here.
Electrek’s Take
MAN Trucks’ CEO famously said that it was “impossible” for hydrogen to compete with BEVs, and even committed to building 200 hydrogen-powered semi truck to prove out that hypothesis.
He’s not alone. MAN’s board member for research and development, Frederik Zohm, said that the company is the one saying hydrogen still has years to go. “(MAN) continues to research fuel cell technology based on battery electrics,” he said, in a statement quoted by Hydrogen Insight, before another board member added that, “we (MAN) expect that, in the future, we will be able to best serve the vast majority of our customers’ transport applications with battery-electric trucks.”
With companies like Volvo and Renault and now Mercedes racking up millions of miles on their respective battery electric semi truck fleets, it’s no longer even close. EV is the way.
SOURCE | IMAGES: CAE FGCEE; via Electrive.
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GE Vernova has produced over half the turbines needed for SunZia Wind, which will be the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere when it comes online in 2026.
GE Vernova has manufactured enough turbines at its Pensacola, Florida, factory to supply over 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of the turbines needed for the $5 billion, 2.4 GW SunZia Wind, a project milestone. The wind farm will be sited in Lincoln, Torrance, and San Miguel counties in New Mexico.
At a ribbon-cutting event for Pensacola’s new customer experience center, GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik noted that since 2023, the company has invested around $70 million in the Pensacola factory.
The Pensacola investments are part of the announcement GE Vernova made in January that it will invest nearly $600 million in its US factories and facilities over the next two years to help meet the surging electricity demands globally. GE Vernova says it’s expecting its investments to create more than 1,500 new US jobs.
Vic Abate, CEO of GE Vernova Wind, said, “Our dedicated employees in Pensacola are working to address increasing energy demands for the US. The workhorse turbines manufactured at this world-class factory are engineered for reliability and scalability, ensuring our customers can meet growing energy demand.”
SunZia Wind and Transmission will create US history’s largest clean energy infrastructure project.
Read more: The largest clean energy project in US history closes $11B, starts full construction
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