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As spring arrives and the days get longer, many motorcyclists take their bikes out of storage and hit the road. A smartphone is a must-have accessory, as there are apps available to help bikers navigate, find the best and cheapest fuel stops, and provide weather information for the route.

On longer journeys, the smartphone battery may run out. You can easily charge your smartphone using the USB port in the cockpit. Like all electronics in a vehicle, it must be protected against load-dump events. These are voltage peaks on the board mains, occurring typically in the case of a jump start. When the supplying battery is disconnected under load, the jumper cables act like an ignition coil. Here, the Load Dump Protector LDP01-28AYD2-AQ by Diotec Semiconductor comes into play. According to ISO 16750-2 load dump curves, it offers protection and clamps its peaks to safe levels. The device is fully AEC-Q101 qualified and comes in the powerful D²PAK case outline.

The best sound quality on the go. Whether you are on holiday, at a meeting, or outside with your friends, these tiny portable speakers deliver great sound anytime, anywhere. A good Bluetooth speaker should offer double-digit battery life, regardless of size and price point.

The LDI55-ADEEN from Diotec is an adjustable low dropout (LDO) voltage regulator providing output voltage up to 15V with +/- 2% tolerance at up to 1000 mA of output current. It is assembled in an ESOP-8 case outline and offers an integrated heat pad, very low drop-out voltage, Low quiescent current with thermal overload, and short circuit protection. As such it is the ideal voltage conditioner for portable devices like Bluetooth speakers. 

Spring is just around the corner and people are being drawn out into nature again. E-bikes are now standard and make it possible for everyone, from cycling professionals to leisure cyclists, to get out and about. The latest bike models are characterized by intelligent connectivity, efficient motor control, and a sleek design that not only makes it easier to cycle but also to transport goods.

High-end variants use carbon frames instead of aluminum to reduce weight. They come with an 800 Wh battery, a 52 V mid-drive motor with twelve gears, and transfer power via a belt to the gearless rear wheel. An alternative is the crossover e-bike, which is suitable for everyday tasks, long tours, and sporty mountain biking. These bicycles usually have 48-volt batteries with 750 Wh of capacity. For the city and short mountain rides, an all-round bike with a frame-mounted 400Wh 36V battery is a good choice.

Even the 36-volt battery requires a charging device equipped with high-voltage Schottky diodes. As a rule of thumb, its reverse voltage must be five to seven times higher than the DC voltage of the battery. The SBCT30200 by Diotec Semiconductor is a 2x 15 A, 200 V Dual Schottky diode in the TO-220AB package. Ideally suited for the output stage of a forward converter, which requires two diodes in a common cathode configuration, it is a good practice to load the output diodes with just one-third or half of their nominal current value. Power losses and, thus, heat are then reduced to a minimum. At 5 A of output current, even a high-capacitance e-bike battery can be charged up in a few hours only.

Every e-bike is equipped with MOSFETs, which Diotec Semiconductor supplies as components, especially for battery management and connection of intelligent functions. The chips regulate the power supply to the electronic motor, allowing precise control of its speed and direction. They improve efficiency, performance, and connectivity.

The increasing demand for e-mobility is driving a surge in electricity consumption. According to the manufacturers, the average energy consumption of an electric car is between 11 kWh and 30 kWh per 100 km, depending on the model. Consumption calculations are therefore usually based on 15 kWh per 100 km. Considering the rapidly growing number of EVs, there is a need for robust energy systems, smart grids, and sustainable power sources to meet evolving electricity demands.

How can we use more electricity from photovoltaic sources? An easy-to-implement solution is solar carports combined with charging piles. Suitable Parking lots are widely available – at companies, supermarkets, leisure centers, apartment blocks, and family homes. A welcome side-effect is the protection of the car against sun heat, hail, and fogged or frozen windshields. The usage of bidirectional charging systems allows the use of EVs even for energy storage and grid balancing.

What does 1 kWh cost at a public charging station? You can usually expect to pay between 0.25 and 0.35 EUR per kWh, resulting in 3.75 to 5.25 EUR per 100 km (at the above-mentioned consumption). A comparable Diesel car would cost 7.50 EUR, taking a consumption of 4.5 l/100 km and 1.70 EUR fuel costs. But are EVs really more sustainable than traditional cars? A recent study by the VDI, the Association of German Engineers, concluded that a typical medium-sized EV becomes "green" after 90.000 km of service life. Over the typical entire lifecycle of 200.000 km, their greenhouse gas emissions will be 55 percent lower than for traditional vehicles with combustion engines.

EV charging systems operate at high voltage levels and must be efficient and small-sized. Power semiconductors based on Silicon Carbide (SiC) are addressing all these needs. They usually come with either 650 V or 1200 V and offer shallow switching losses. As such, they can be operated at very high switching frequencies, which allows for a drastic reduction in the size of magnetic elements such as coils and transformers. The SICW40C120 by Diotec is e. g. a 2x 20 A / 1200 V SiC Schottky diode in TO-247. Compared to a similar device based on silicon, its switching losses are impressively 90% lower.