Porsche to produce the world’s first automotive stereo with gallium nitride

Porsche has developed a high-fidelity car audio system based on gallium nitride (GaN), a semiconductor material that offers higher efficiency and power density than conventional silicon. According to the manufacturer, it is the first set of its kind ready for serial production in the world. The debut is scheduled for 2027, in a model not yet revealed.

The technology was developed in partnership with the University of Stuttgart and will initially be applied to the Burmester 3D surround sound system. A high-performance GaN-based chip will perform the voltage conversion needed to power the subwoofer’s 400-watt amplifier.

Less heat, less aluminum

GaN transistors operate at higher switching frequencies and have much lower losses than their silicon counterparts. As they generate less heat, they reduce the need for cooling: in the Porsche project, the heatsink was about 20% lighter, and passive components, such as capacitors and inductors, were able to shrink. The result is a more compact and lighter amplifier with no loss of power.

There is also an environmental effect. According to the company, the lower amount of aluminum in the heatsink avoids CO2 emissions associated with the production of the metal, an energy-intensive process.

“The sound in a Porsche is pure emotion,” said Steffen Burosch, responsible for innovations in audio systems at the brand’s development center in Weissach, Germany.

From the lab to the assembly

lineGallium nitride gained scale in the 1990s, with blue LEDs, and today it appears in products ranging from compact cell phone chargers to satellites. The idea of subjecting it to the conditions of a sports car came up at Porsche in mid-2023. In the first half of 2024, the brand’s experts in audio, semiconductors and sustainability started working with the Institute for Robust Power Semiconductor Systems at the University of Stuttgart on the first prototype of the amplifier.

In the next step, the automaker turned to an international chipmaker and an audio development partner, neither of whom were identified, to transform the prototype into a component fit for mass production. Porsche said it had filed patent applications related to the project’s solutions.

The company evaluates uses that go beyond sound. According to Lars Heuken, responsible for the strategic management of semiconductors, GaN is indicated whenever there is energy conversion, which includes the high-voltage systems of electric sports cars. In the field of audio, the manufacturer says it is already defining the next applications.