Techmezine speaks with Ram Sathappan,Director, Applications Marketing, Allegro MicroSystems on Allegro’s latest Sensor and 2 Wheeler Market.
Techmezine: Kindly share about Allegro MicroSystems 2-wheeler market journey ?
Allegro Microsystems 2-wheeler journey started with the adoption of Allegro position sensors by Japanese 2-wheeler companies almost 20 years ago. This has grown to cover all of Asia Pacific with a significant growth in India over the last 10 years as many local companies started designing and developing electronic systems for 2-wheelers within India. We are seeing tremendous growth over the last few years with enforcement of emission standards Bharat Stage (BS) IV standards across all of India from 2017. With the latest BS VI standards coming into effect in 2020, the increase in semiconductor and electronic content in two wheelers has grown significantly. Our sensor and power IC products are now used for many applications in 2 and 3 wheelers including but not limited to throttle control, accelerator position sensor, fuel pump, water pump, cam, crank, transmission and wheel speed, brake switch, DRL, headlight, taillight, turn lights, kickstand among others.
Techmezine: What is your Say on the growing 2-wheeler market In India ?
As mentioned earlier, Allegro is already playing a big role in the internal combustion engine (ICE) based 2-wheeler market in India and Asia-Pacific region and we see this growing even faster with the Electric 2-wheeler market as the electronic content in EV is almost 4x that of the ICE market. The 4-wheel EV market was about 10% of the total light vehicles sold worldwide in 2022. In comparison only about 2% of the total vehicles sold in India were electric vehicles which should see a significant uptick in the next decade as the government ‘s focus on carbon neutral initiatives drives the growth of electric vehicles in India. Unlike the rest of the world, the EV growth in India will be driven by the two-wheeler market. The electric two-wheeler (E2W) market crossed the 600,000 sales target (of units) and achieved a market penetration of 4 per cent in Calendar 2022 (CY22), reveals VAHAN data. According to VAHAN, 624,192 two-wheeler units were registered in the country, up a staggering 300 per cent over 2021, when only 153,523 units were registered; electric vehicle (EV) penetration was just 1 per cent. The total number of two-wheelers (internal combustion engine and electric) registered in CY22 stands at 15.4 million, up by 13 per cent against the same period last year. We expect this conversion to E2W will accelerate fast in the coming years and provides a huge growth opportunity given our success in the EV powertrain applications in the 4-wheeler segment. The same principles and products apply to the 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler markets and so we are well positioned to support our customers with best-in-class products for the electrification of all vehicles – 2, 3 or 4 wheels.
Techmezine: Tell us about Allegro 2-wheeler ICE Solutions?
Allegro today supplies more than 10 products for the ICE 2-wheeler. This covers position sensors, speed sensors, current sensors, motor and gate drivers, power regulators and LED driver products that are used for many applications in 2 and 3 wheelers including but not limited to throttle control, accelerator position sensor, fuel pump, water pump, wheel speed, brake switch, headlight, taillight, turn lights, kickstand among others. Our 3D sensors with analog output and multi-point linearization are ideal for the 2-wheeler market as it helps them design new electronic throttle control or accelerator position sensors to match the existing vehicle performance expected by consumers. Our Hall-effect switches and latches are used across the vehicle to replace many mechanical switches and buttons reducing wear and tear and extending life of the products. Allegro’s GMR wheel speed sensors have one of the best air gap tolerance performances in the industry and play a critical role in providing accurate wheel speed information to the braking systems ensuring optimal braking performance. Allegro gate drivers with integrated intelligent control algorithms are used across fuel and water pump systems. Our LED drivers are a favorite of many of the manufacturers for rear combination lamps that combine brake and turn lights into a single system providing cost savings with improved energy efficiency of LED lights.
And our automotive first focus on product development delivers high quality reliable products that brings improved overall safety and performance of all electronic systems in the 2-wheeler space as well.
Techmezine: Tell us about Allegro 2-wheeler EV Solutions ?
Since the underlying systems used for electric powertrain for 2-wheelers will be similar to the 4-wheel automotive market, we expect similar if not better success in the E2W space. Allegro’s magnetic current sensors are one of the best in the industry in terms of size, power conversion, accuracy and switching speeds. These differentiated features directly impact electric powertrain system efficiency and performance leading to end consumer benefits of fast charging and extended driving range.
Add to this our new 80V and high voltage isolated gate drivers in compact packaging, customers can get power efficiency and performance in smaller systems that take up less space compared to any competitive solution in the industry. Many of the other applications that apply to ICE apply to E2W and Allegro will continue to serve and improve performance applications such as accelerator position sensor, gear position sensor, wheel speed sensor, bank tilt sensor, kickstand sensor, rear combination lamp drivers, brake switch and many more .
Techmezine: Tell us about your latest Sensor for 2-wheeler EV?
Allegro has released many products over the last few years targeting the electric 2-wheeler market. One of the key products, I would like to highlight is the A31315 3D magnetic position sensor IC designed to support a wide range of non-contact rotary and linear position sensors. The multi-point linearization capability of this device make it an ideal choice for Accelerator or Throttle position sensor application in 2 wheelers. Another product that is targeted at the 2-wheeler space is the A89500, 100V fast switching half-bridge gate driver for Brushed DC motors compatible with 12, 24 and 48V systems. This gate driver can be put in low power sleep mode for battery energy conservation in electric 2 wheelers.
Techmezine: Can you please share your growth rate and future insights of 2-wheeler market ?
We believe that the E2W market in India is poised for big growth given only 4% of the 2W market is electric today. We believe many new players are entering the market like in the electric 4-wheeler segment and will bring about innovation and new designs and lead to greater adoption. Also, government regulations favoring reduction of emissions (BSES standards) and incentives for EV charging and EV adoption will further spur the growth of the E2W market in India. Allegro is well positioned to participate and grow rapidly with this market growth.
