Running hot: Why Weebit’s ReRAM could find its sweet spot in cars

• Cars are running hot as chips face extreme stress
• Flash hits its limits as ReRAM moves in
• ReRAM passes the heat test and sets up Weebit’s auto push

Special Report: Modern cars are packed with chips that must withstand extreme heat and, as Flash memory reaches its limits, Weebit’s ReRAM is emerging as the reliable solution automakers are starting to embrace.

Pop the hood on a modern car and you won’t just find pistons, pipes and a battery. You’ll find a silicon jungle.

Today’s vehicles, especially EVs, carry hundreds, sometimes thousands, of chips.

They run everything from the main drive systems to the small but vital functions like airbags, lighting and braking.

The catch is that those chips need to operate in some of the harshest environments on the planet.

Ambient temperatures under the hood can easily exceed 150°C, while junction temps inside the chip can climb to 175°C or more.

That’s a bit like asking your laptop to live inside an oven and never skip a beat. But for the semiconductors keeping your car alive, failure is not an option.

Memory on the edge

At the heart of these chips lies non-volatile memory (NVM).

NVM is a class of storage that retains data states without continuous power, enabling the system to preserve instructions and operational logic even after shutdown.

Eran Briman, VP of marketing and business development at Weebit Nano (ASX:WBT) with  30 years’ experience in semiconductor IP, said a typical car can have anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand of these NVM chips.

“All of these need this kind of memory.

“The memory is used for a few things – to store code, to hold data tables and to keep logs.

“You need to make sure it’s always there, always reliable.”

Without it, your car doesn’t know how to start, how to manage its battery, or how to recall what happened in a crash.

Traditionally, that job fell to Flash memory. But Flash has hit a wall.

It can’t scale below 28nm (nanometres), it needs high voltages, and it struggles in hot, noisy environments.

Enter ReRAM

This is where Weebit Nano’s resistive RAM (ReRAM) draws focus.

Unlike Flash, which stores data as electric charge, ReRAM uses a change in material resistance.

That makes it more scalable, faster, lower-power and tougher in harsh environments.

Briman explained that in high-voltage designs, Flash memory adds 30-40% to wafer costs, forcing many automakers into clunky and expensive two-chip solutions.

With ReRAM, the added cost is under 10%.

“The cost structure in automotive is so critical, because you’re talking about thousands of chips per car,” he said.

ReRAM also brings far greater endurance: it withstands 100,000 write-cycles, while Flash wears out much sooner.

Where it lands first

Briman believes the first automotive applications for ReRAM are likely to be high-voltage systems such as inverters and battery management.

It’s also set to appear in advanced microcontrollers that need to deliver higher performance on smaller nodes.

Microcontrollers are everywhere in the car – brakes, entertainment, motor control.

“But below 28nm, Flash just doesn’t work,” Briman said.

“ReRAM solves this because it can be embedded directly, which makes the system faster, cheaper, lower power, and more secure.”

That security angle matters.

When memory sits outside the main chip, hackers can potentially eavesdrop on the data lines between components.

Embedding it on-chip potentially eliminates that risk.

Listen: Coby Hanoch CEO of Weebit Nano chat to Stockhead’s Tim Boreham 

Zero room for error

Of course, surviving the heat is the real test.

Chips near a turbocharger or EV inverter don’t just warm up, they roast.

Ambient temps can hit 150°C, and inside the chip, add another 25°C. That means automotive memory must survive at 175°C for thousands of hours without error.

“We haven’t seen any other ReRAM vendor that has hit this temperature range,” Briman said.

“From the get-go, we were already aiming at these high temperatures.

“That means when we started developing it ten years ago, we already had in mind this thing needs to run at high temperatures for these applications, and it really makes a big difference.”

Weebit recently proved its ReRAM could do just that, qualifying to the automotive industry’s AEC-Q100 standard at 150°C and demonstrating retention at 175°C.

As Briman explained, passing these tests shows that ReRAM can reliably retain data across the extreme temperatures demanded by automotive electronics.

Alternatives like MRAM look clever on paper but struggle with electromagnetic interference and cost, which is why ReRAM’s tick-the-box performance on endurance, speed and security makes it the only real contender.

The broader race

Weebit isn’t running alone.

Industry heavyweight TSMC has its own ReRAM variant, and Infineon has already started using it for automotive microcontrollers.

Briman sees that as validation rather than competition. That dynamic effectively positions Weebit as the independent supplier able to license ReRAM across the rest of the foundry ecosystem, giving it a seat at the table.

“TSMC is such a huge factor in the market. On the one hand, yes, I definitely want to work with TSMC.

But at the same time, that means all the rest of the foundries and fabs around the world need to have such technologies to compete well with TSMC.

“And they all understand ReRAM is the way forward when it comes to memory.”

Shaping the next chapter

For investors, the message is clear: ReRAM has a very strong case to become must-have technology for cars.

As chips get hotter, denser, and more mission-critical, the old solutions are breaking down.

ReRAM has stepped into that gap, and the qualification results are already opening doors.

“In the automotive industry, things take time,” said Briman.

“But once you’re in, you’re in. It’s not like consumer devices where things change every year. Decisions are being made now, and they will stick for a long time.

“I’m working day and night, around the clock with my team, because we have such a great opportunity ahead of us.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Weebit Nano, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.