The US Department of Commerce on Friday said that it had reached a preliminary deal with German auto supplier Bosch for up to US$225 million in subsidies to build silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors, a key component in electric vehicles (EVs), in California.
The department said the funding would support Bosch’s planned US$1.9 billion investment to transform its manufacturing facility in Roseville, California for production of SiC power semiconductors. It is also offering Bosch approximately US$350 million in proposed government loans for the project.
The department is tapping the US$52.7 billion fund, approved in 2022, to subsidize US semiconductor production and research. Officials have been racing to finalize terms for major loans in the weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
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Bosch expects to produce its first chips on 200mm wafers in its Roseville facility starting in 2026. SiC chips are key components for the automotive, telecommunications and defense industries. They utilize less energy and are critical for boosting the efficiency of EV driving and charging, it said.
Last year, Bosch acquired key assets of California-based TSI Semiconductors and said producing the chip would “be heavily dependent on federal funding opportunities.”
Like other automotive manufacturers, Bosch was hit hard by disruptions to semiconductor production in Asia, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October, the department reached a preliminary agreement with Wolfspeed for US$750 million in grants for its new SiC wafer manufacturing plant facility in North Carolina, it said.
When the Bosch facility reaches full capacity, the project could comprise more than 40 percent of all US-based SiC device manufacturing capacity, it added.
“The Roseville investment enables Bosch to locally produce silicon carbide semiconductors, supporting US consumers on the path to electrification,” Bosch North America president Paul Thomas said in a statement.
The award to Bosch would allow them to build “essential components for advances in clean mobility, electric vehicles and other clean energy technology,” said US Representative Doris Matsui, a California Democrat who helped write the 2022 law.
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