Research Articles

Latency, energy, privacy. By shifting AI computation from the cloud to the edge, these issues can be alleviated. 2025 was a breakout year for many AI applications, with consumer electronics leading the way in revenue due to the trend to towards AI smartphones and PCs, and rising costs of chips manufactured on leading process nodes.

The service robotics industry has grown quickly in recent years, spurred on by advances in robotics technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and is set to alleviate labor shortage issues across multiple industries. This IDTechEx article examines the winners in the short and long term in the service robots market.

The transition to 800V EVs is one which affects the whole powertrain, including the power electronics. In IDTechEx's report, Power Electronics for Electric Vehicles 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets, and Forecasts, these trends are analysed and used to forecast the adoption of wide bandgap semiconductors SiC and GaN, as well as the entire power electronics market for electric vehicles (EV).

IDTechEx, along with many other industry experts, are expecting robotaxis to become a common sight in major cities over the next twenty years. The business case for robotaxis, although not without its obstacles, is compelling. However, in the meantime, there will still be billions of privately owned vehicles on the roads. This article considers the case for autonomous private vehicles and the software market: from adaptive cruise control to true autonomy, everywhere.

2025 has been a turning point for the power electronics industry. Despite a slowdown in EV (electric vehicle) sales, IDTechEx forecasts a tripling in the market size of the power electronics for electric vehicles market, to US$42 billion by 2036. In IDTechEx's new report, "Power Electronics for Electric Vehicles 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets, and Forecasts", these trends are analyzed and used to forecast unit sales, market size, and US$ per kW.

2025 has yielded massive jumps in autonomous vehicle technology, both in hardware and software. IDTechEx's report, Autonomous Driving Software and AI in Automotive 2026-2046: Technologies, Markets, Players, forecasts a more than 1,000 times increase in software-related revenue for autonomous vehicles from 2026 to 2046.

Major automotive group Stellantis has officially discontinued its hydrogen fuel cell technology development program. This also means that its hydrogen-powered Pro One vehicles will no longer commence serial production this year. According to IDTechEx's analysis, light commercial vehicles were never a good value proposition for fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) technology, but is this the start of the fall for FCEVs globally? In this article, IDTechEx investigates the developments in the first half of this year in the FCEV industry.

As software becomes an increasingly important differentiator and component of autonomous driving, the term 'end-to-end' has been used to describe a new approach to autonomous driving software. End-to-end autonomous driving systems are defined by the input of raw sensor data into a deep learning model, and outputting vehicle control commands such as steering, acceleration, and braking. This represents a paradigm shift from the traditional modular software approach used in autonomous vehicles.

As battery technology rapidly advances in cost, performance, and reliability, fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are struggling to gain market traction. While FCEVs are seen as ideal for long-haul trucking, they aim to break into the larger passenger car market. IDTechEx explores their potential in this space by examining automaker strategies, past trends, and tech comparisons

With rapid charging becoming common and more powerful for battery electric vehicles, IDTechEx assesses whether this makes fuel cell electric vehicles less appealing in comparison.

While battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continue to grow in model availability, sales numbers, and available charging infrastructure, the same cannot be said about fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). IDTechEx reviews the on-road fuel cell electric vehicle market and assesses whether passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, buses, and medium and heavy-duty trucks will use fuel cell technology in 20 years.

Numerous barriers and challenges have made trucks (both medium and heavy-duty) more difficult to electrify than lighter vehicle segments. However, within these categories, some considerations make certain applications more easily electrifiable with current technologies, while other applications will require further improvements to electric vehicle (EV) technologies to become viable.

2024 was a year of progress for zero-emissions trucks (battery-electric and fuel cell) globally. With sales numbers, range, and model availability all increasing, the other part of the puzzle is refueling. For both electric charging and hydrogen refueling, barriers remain concerning grid capacity, costs, scalability, and sustainability.

Historically, heavy-duty trucks have proven difficult to electrify, with the average annual mileage of a truck approximately ten times that of a passenger vehicle, regularly driving hundreds of km a day. 2024 has seen further growth in the global electric truck market, with progressive emissions reductions mandated by governments projected to propel further uptake.

How will thermal long-wave infrared (LWIR) cameras become a US$500m market for autonomous emergency braking (AEB)? Find out in this brief summary by IDTechEx Technology Analyst, John Li.

The Society of Automotive Engineers defines 6 levels (0 to 5) of autonomy available to vehicles, ranging from level 0 (no automation) to level 5 (full automation). To achieve level 4+, automotive OEMs and tier-one suppliers are required to expand their sensor suites beyond conventional cameras and radar, accompanied by reliable software to perceive the vehicle's surroundings.

Although over 1.2 million on-road vehicles have thermal LWIR camera technology installed, this is 0.08% of the estimated total of 1.5 billion vehicles on roads worldwide. For LWIR cameras to fill their potential in the automotive market, drivers in regulation and innovation are a requirement.

Underlying the hype for SiC (silicon carbide) and the future potential of GaN (gallium nitride) for EV power electronics, challenges remain for both technologies. While OEMs, tier-one suppliers, and market analysts generally agree that SiC and GaN will eventually share the market with incumbent Si technologies, the exact roadmap and time scale remain uncertain. A development in its relative infancy that IDTechEx expects to boost overall performance, volume capabilities, and cost, are engineered substrates.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is one of the most important ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) features a vehicle can have. Studies have shown that pedestrian crash risk is reduced by 25-27% and pedestrian injury crash risk by 29-30% through the implementation of AEB.

Efficiency is the key goal of electric vehicle development. This is especially true of power electronics, where one increasingly adopted approach is to integrate multiple functions into the same package. For automotive OEMs, this can result in reductions in overall weight to increase the efficiency of the vehicle while also reducing the cost of production.

In 2008, the commercialization of the silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET marked a major turning point for the power semiconductor market, representing its first significant development in decades. This technology was pioneered in electric vehicles (EVs) with the 2017 Tesla Model 3. The SiC MOSFET is a transistor that promises high power density, greater efficiency, and is less fallible to high temperatures.