Murata commercializes a resin-molded surface mount MLCC for electric vehicle noise suppression

     Murata has developed the EVA Series, a resin-formed, surface-mounted multilayer ceramic capacitor for electric vehicle noise suppression. Although the product is small and thin (12.7 x 6.0 x 3.7 mm), it still ensures the creepage distance required for high voltage loads (10 mm), and supports the Y2 level of the international standard "IEC60384-14". This is a resin-formed surface mount multilayer ceramic capacitor product developed by Murata. Mass production is scheduled to begin in June 2023.

     In recent years, in the electric vehicle (EV) market, the voltage requirements for batteries have been increasing in order to shorten the charging time. Conventional EVs are equipped with a battery voltage of more than 400 volts, but there are already models with more than 800 volts on the market. At the same time, the power voltages handled by on-board power electronics such as on-board chargers (OBCs) and motor drive inverters are also increasing, and the components that make up these devices are required to have highly safe noise suppression countermeasures at high voltage loads.

     In general, a high safety squelch element requires a long creepage distance. In the international standard "IEC60664-1", the creepage distance required for a battery of more than 400 volts is 2.8mm, and that of more than 800 volts needs to be extended to 5.6mm. However, to date, it has been difficult to extend the creepage distance while ensuring safety at high voltage loads, and other types of capacitors such as film capacitors or large single-layer capacitors need to be used as substitutes in order to comply with the standard.

     By utilizing the high safety, advanced MLCC technology developed by Murata to date and resin molding technology suitable for miniaturization, the "EVA Series" achieves a long creeps distance of 10mm that has not been achieved until now, while maintaining the advantages of MLCC with high accuracy, small size and thin shape. As a result, even the high voltages of more than 800 volts expected in EV-related equipment can be adequately dealt with.