New Opportunities For Automotive PCB Development Prospects?

No new car can operate without on-board computers that require complex automotive printed circuit boards to function. In this article, we will discuss automotive PCBs and their applications. Please read what we have prepared below for more information on automotive PCBs.

New opportunities for automotive PCB

Historically, the cost of automotive electronics has continued to grow, and the trend will continue. The proportion of automotive electronics in new energy vehicles has reached 65%, which is significantly higher than that of fuel vehicles. The continuous improvement of automotive electronic applications will drive the growth of demand for its basic component, PCB. Automotive PCBs are used in control systems, audio-visual systems, GPS modules, etc. In the future, driven by the new four modernizations of automobiles, the value of a single vehicle is expected to increase significantly, driving the overall market size to continue to grow.

5G accelerates the penetration of the Internet of Vehicles, further opening up the growth space of automotive PCBs. According to agency estimates, by 2025, the global automotive PCB output value will exceed 100 billion yuan, with a compound growth rate of about 15% from 2021 to 2025. The upstream copper clad laminate of PCB accounts for about 30% of the overall cost. At present, the price of copper and epoxy resin has stabilized or declined, which is expected to ease the pressure on PCB manufacturers. Domestic PCB manufacturers have expanded production to cope with future demand, and the overall development of the industry is thriving.

The scale of the automotive PCB industry has increased

PCBs are widely used in automobiles, and automobiles are also an important application area of PCBs. As the support of electronic components, PCBs are mainly used in power control systems, body sensors, navigation systems, entertainment systems, and navigation systems in traditional automobiles. From the perspective of the PCB industry, in 2020, automobiles have become the second largest application area of PCBs, accounting for about 16%.

The demand for automotive PCB categories is diversified, mainly. The requirements of automobiles for PCB are diversified. Single and double-sided boards, 4-layer boards, 6-layer boards, and 8-16-layer boards account for 26.93%, 25.70%, and 17.37%, respectively, accounting for about 73% in total. HDI, FPC, IC carrier boards account for 9.56%, 14.57%, and 2.38%, respectively, accounting for about 27% in total. It can be seen that PCB multilayer boards are still the main demand for automotive electronics. The demand for automotive PCB is mainly 2-6 layers, which accounts for about 2% of the cost of the whole vehicle electronic device.

What are the classifications of automotive PCBs?

As a combination of mechanical and electronic equipment, modern vehicle technology combines traditional technology with the latest science and technology. Different parts depend on electronic devices with different functions, leading to the application of PCBs with different tasks.

Based on the difference of PCB substrate materials for automobiles, they can be divided into inorganic ceramic-based PCBs and organic resin-based PCBs. The leading characteristics of ceramic-based PCBs are high heat resistance and excellent dimensional stability, suitable for engine systems in high temperature environments. However, the poor manufacturability of ceramic-based PCBs results in high cost of circuit boards. With the development of newly developed resin substrates with higher heat resistance, resin-based PCBs are mostly used in most modern vehicles.