OREANDA-NEWS. Panasonic Corporation announced the release of a new power choke coil for automotive applications, featuring one of the lowest DC resistances in the industry, and a compact size, in addition to being suitable for large current applications. The new power choke coil is suitable for power supply circuits of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) for gasoline, HEV and EV vehicles and will be released in October, 2013.

In order to achieve the high requirements for the environment and low fuel consumption, the number of control functions for the ECU of an in-vehicle engine, including the rapid and fine control of combustion, intake, and exhaust gas, is increasing. In addition, as the number of ECUs in non-engine applications increases, there is a growing requirement for smaller, lighter and integrated ECUs. This has led to the central processing units (CPUs) of ECUs having a higher clock speed and lower voltage, and the power supply circuits to drive CPUs incorporating high efficiency DC/DC converters are becoming more common.

Against this background, the power choke coils mounted on DC/DC converters are required to be small in size and capable of supporting a high current, while being resistance to heat and vibrations. To meet the market demand, Panasonic has succeeded in commercializing a power choke coil suitable for in-vehicle power supply circuits, with one of the lowest DC resistances in the industry*1.

Panasonic will start mass production of the new power choke coil October 2013, with a monthly production capacity of 7 million pieces. The company will contribute to saving space and the fine control of power supply circuits used in in-vehicle engine control units.