Do Cars Need Chips?
2 Answers
Only purely mechanical vehicles produced in the early stages do not require chips. Modern cars need chips. Functionally, automotive chips can be roughly divided into three categories: The first category is responsible for computing power and processing, such as AI chips used for autonomous driving perception and fusion, and traditional MCUs (Electronic Control Units) for engine/chassis/body control; the second category handles power conversion, like IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) and other power devices; the third category consists of sensor chips used for various radars in autonomous driving, as well as airbags, tire pressure monitoring, etc. On average, each car is equipped with approximately 1,600 semiconductor components. These semiconductor devices are distributed across various equipment and systems in the car, with automotive chips such as logic computing chips, memory chips, and microcontrollers (MCUs) coordinating their operations. From an application perspective, chips are indispensable in vehicles, from small systems like the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and cameras to larger components like the Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) and Autonomous Driving Domain Controller. It can be said that the intelligence of a car is essentially the intelligence of its chips. Traditional cars typically contain around 500 to 600 chips, but with the addition of features like autonomous driving and new energy functions, the number of chips in modern cars has increased to approximately 1,000 to 1,200.
Having repaired cars for decades, I've realized modern vehicles truly can't function without chips. These components are essentially the brains of a car, controlling critical systems: engine management relies on them to optimize fuel injection and ignition timing, improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions; safety systems like ABS anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control use chips to monitor wheel speed and prevent skidding accidents; even infotainment and navigation systems require chips to process maps and music. Without chips, a car becomes like a puppet with its strings cut—either immobile or sluggish in response. During maintenance, I use diagnostic tools to check chip signals, preventing voltage issues that could cause malfunctions. As cars grow increasingly intelligent, autonomous driving assistance features depend on vast arrays of chips to process sensor data, ensuring efficiency and reliability. When chip shortages occur, factories halt production, and owners face delays for repair parts—demonstrating just how central these components are.
