What is a car chip?

[McLaila]

Automotive electronic chips, collectively referred to as automotive chips, are chips used in vehicles. Automotive chips are mainly divided into three categories, as detailed below: 1. Functional chips: Primarily refer to processor and controller chips. For a car to run on land, it relies on an electronic and electrical architecture for information transmission and data processing. The vehicle control system mainly includes several major parts: body electronic systems, vehicle motion systems, powertrain systems, infotainment systems, and autonomous driving systems. Under these systems, there are numerous sub-functions, each of which has a controller behind it. Inside each controller, there is a functional chip. 2. Power semiconductors: Mainly responsible for power conversion, often used in power supplies and interfaces, such as IGBT power chips for electric vehicles, and field-effect transistors (MOSFET) that can be widely used in analog and digital circuits. 3. Sensors: Mainly used in various radars, airbags, tire pressure monitoring, etc.

[NolanLynn]

The car's chips are essentially the brain of the entire vehicle. Over the past few years, I've tinkered with many cars and noticed they're incorporating more and more chips. The Engine Control Unit (ECU) acts like the main CPU, managing throttle response and emissions; the transmission chip ensures smooth gear shifts—the jerky ride I experienced last time was due to its malfunction. Nowadays, the most critical component in new cars is the autonomous driving chip, handling all the LiDAR data for brands like NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto. The infotainment system has its own dedicated chipset, where even CarPlay lag could be linked to overheating Qualcomm chips. The recent chip shortage has forced many cars to cut features, proving these little components are truly indispensable.

[AlanRose]

Having run a repair shop for ten years, I've dealt with countless vehicle computer boards—those small black squares are all chips. The ABS chip prevents wheel lock-up by calculating wheel speed hundreds of times per second, while the airbag chip must decide to deploy within 0.01 seconds. The worst is encountering corroded CAN bus chips in flood-damaged cars, rendering the entire vehicle silent. Tesla's black box, the EDR chip, records data from the five seconds before a collision, making it even more precise than an aircraft's black box. Some veteran drivers fry their amplifier chips when modifying audio systems—unstable voltage in the car can instantly destroy these delicate components.

[Humbert]

The cost of chips in new energy vehicles now accounts for over 20% of the total. In the battery management system, at least three sets of chips monitor the temperature differences across more than 3,000 battery cells, with thermal runaway warnings entirely dependent on them. IGBT chips control the efficiency of electrical energy conversion, and BYD's self-developed ones can extend the range by an additional 30 kilometers. The eCall emergency call chip, mandated by European standards, can automatically locate and send distress signals even in remote mountainous areas. Recently, while helping a friend inspect a used electric car, reading the fault codes revealed five historical errors in the DC charging chip, leading to a decisive recommendation against the purchase.

[JulianaLynn]

Automotive chips must withstand extreme temperatures ranging from -40°C to 150°C. During a recent teardown, we observed that the ECU chip in the engine compartment features a military-grade metal shielding cover, with vibration testing standards 50 times stricter than those for smartphone chips. Autonomous driving chips demand even higher computing power—NVIDIA's Orin chip consumes 65 watts and requires liquid cooling. Surprisingly, the tire pressure monitoring chip, powered by a coin cell battery, lasts up to 10 years, outperforming even my smart door lock in energy efficiency.

[SanRiley]

An average family sedan is equipped with around 1,500 chips, while luxury cars can have up to 3,000. The clock spring chip in the steering wheel transmits button signals, and the driver chip in the headlights enables dynamic turn signal effects. I often remind fellow car owners not to spray water directly at sensors when washing their cars, as the ultrasonic parking chips can misjudge when wet. The aftermarket often faces compatibility issues with chips—last time, a replacement domestic headlight chip triggered a fault code, and in the end, only the OEM part worked. Though small, repairing chips can cost much more than replacing a tire.