NXP and Rimac team up on centralized EV architecture
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NXP Semiconductors is teaming up with Rimac Technology to tackle one of the biggest challenges in next-gen automotive design: consolidating dozens of ECUs into a centralized architecture that’s fast, safe, and scalable. According to a recent announcement, the two companies have co-developed a solution based on NXP’s S32E2 processor, which is a part of its S32 Automotive Processing Platform — targeted at real-time domain and zonal control in software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
The NXP Platform
At the heart of the solution is the S32E2, a high-performance processor that brings together eight Arm Cortex-R52 cores running at up to 1 GHz, high-res analog-to-digital converters, and up to 64 MB of nonvolatile memory. With support for ISO 26262 ASIL D and built-in safety isolation features, the platform is engineered with automotive-grade reliability in mind.
What makes it especially interesting from an analog perspective? Beyond the digital horsepower, the platform includes a suite of analog companion chips, such as the FS86 safety SBC, PF5030 PMIC, GD3160 high-voltage gate driver, and MC3377x battery cell controllers. These cover critical areas such as power management, motor control, and battery monitoring—core analog functions in EV and SDV architectures.
“The NXP platform allows developers to quickly implement SDV features for advanced real-time applications. The S32E2 enables the efficient integration of numerous applications within an easy-to-debug environment, where task isolation and determinism are inherent to the design,” said Ray Cornyn, SVP at NXP.
Looking Ahead
Rimac plans to use the system in its upcoming hypercars, with broader adoption across vehicle segments to follow.
“The growing complexity of vehicle systems with numerous ECUs requires a solution that decreases weight, manages power consumption and simplifies software integration,” noted Ana Martinčić Špoljarić, Director for Powertrain and Electronics at Rimac.
For engineers building the next wave of electric and software-defined vehicles, the message is clear: real-time performance and analog integration are no longer separate concerns — they’re part of the same system solution. And NXP, with Rimac in the passenger seat, is putting that into production.
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