Why the Next Generation of EVs May Run on Diamond, Not Silicon

For decades, the automotive industry has quietly evolved into one of the world’s hungriest semiconductor consumers. Today, a modern vehicle houses anywhere between 1,000 and 3,500 semiconductor components, and that number swells further in fully electric vehicles (EVs). Batteries, power inverters, fast-charging modules, onboard computers, and autonomous driving systems all rely on chips—not just for intelligence, but for energy management. And in the electrification era, energy efficiency is range.

To meet increasingly ambitious efficiency and range targets, the automotive industry has begun shifting from traditional silicon chips to wide-bandgap semiconductors, which push the performance boundaries of electric vehicles. A defining example came when Tesla incorporated silicon carbide (SiC) power electronics into the Model 3, marking a turning point in EV engineering. Now, the next leap is emerging with diamond-based devices—a material widely regarded as the ultimate power semiconductor thanks to its ultra-wide bandgap and exceptional thermal performance.

Despite the significant advancements enabled by SiC, its performance ceiling has become increasingly visible. Switching losses, thermal constraints, and the need for large cooling systems continue to limit further gains. This is where a new wave of innovation is emerging. Companies like Diamfab are now developing diamond-based semiconductors, a material that surpasses existing technologies by orders of magnitude. Diamond offers nearly twice the bandgap of SiC, allowing higher voltages with minimal leakage, and its unrivaled thermal conductivity enables far more efficient heat dissipation. Early laboratory prototypes have already demonstrated diamond MOSFETs exceeding 2 kV breakdown voltage, operating in temperatures that would render today’s power electronics unusable.

Operating electronics at high temperature without degrading performance is not just a thermal milestone, it reshapes the architecture of the entire EV platform. Cooling systems alone can represent up to 30% of an EV powertrain’s cost and weight. Diamond’s ability to reduce thermal resistance by 50–70% allows automakers to eliminate heavy radiators, thermal pads, and liquid cooling loops, unlocking lighter, more compact, more efficient vehicles.

The global EV power semiconductor market is projected to exceed $20 billion by 2030. As manufacturers scale and accelerate performance demands, from faster charging to electrified aircraft, the limitations of current materials will become unavoidable bottlenecks.

Diamond is not just a technological upgrade; it is a strategic one. Lighter vehicles mean less battery dependence. Less cooling means fewer raw materials. Higher efficiency means lower energy loss and faster charging, without overheating.

Silicon defined the computer revolution. Silicon carbide defined the premise of efficient EVs. Now, diamond stands ready to define what comes next: a mobility era where energy waste becomes unacceptable and efficiency becomes standard.