Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., introduced the first high power resistors on the market to be offered with the AEC-Q200 automotive qualification. Designed for direct mounting on a heatsink, the Vishay Sfernice LPSA 300, LPSA 600, and LPSA 800 deliver high power dissipation and pulse handling capabilities to help designers reduce component counts and lower costs in automotive applications.

The devices will serve as precharge or discharge resistors for inverters, and converters in electric vehicles (EV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). With rated power of 300W, 600W, and 800W, respectively, the LPSA 300, LPSA 600, and LPSA 800 enable designers to replace multiple lower power components with a single resistor in these applications. In addition, their pulse capability from 400J to 1500J for pulses from 0.05s to 0.5s allows them to replace larger wire wound resistors to save board.

The LPSA 300, LPSA 600, and LPSA 800 offer high temperature operation to +175 °C and a range of resistance values from 0.03 Ω to 900 kΩ. They are also capable of high dielectric strength up to 12 kV RMS. The RoHS-compliant devices offer a non-inductive design, tolerances down to ± 1 %, and excellent automotive reliability test results (i.e., extensive temperature cycling at 1,000 cycles and 1,000 hours of operational life).

Samples and production quantities of the resistors are available now, with lead times of 10 to 12 weeks.

More information can be found at www.vishay.com.