Porsche has found a new way to drive performance, but it’s not on the track. It’s through its speakers. The company has recently unveiled its “Driven by GaN” project that brings gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology to its Burmester 3D High End Surround Sound System – a world-first production-ready high-end automotive audio system built on GaN chips.
Who is Porsche?
Founded in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1931, Porsche AG is best known for sports cars such as the 911, alongside models including the Taycan, Panamera, and Cayenne. The company has increasingly paired its performance heritage with digital and sustainable initiatives, and the GaN audio project is another unification of this shift.
Announcing GaN power
Developed in partnership with the University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Robust Power Semiconductor Systems, the project brought together Porsche’s audio, semiconductor, and sustainability teams. Work began with early exploration in mid-2023, before the teams built a prototype GaN-based subwoofer amplifier starting in spring 2024. Since then, Porsche has filed several patent applications covering the technology.
Steffen Burosch, who leads audio system innovation at Porsche’s Weissach Development Centre, says that project is just as much about emotion as it is about engineering. A strong bass foundation is central to the feeling customers expect from a Porsche – and GaN is a way to sharpen that experience while keeping the system true to the character of the brand’s sports cars.
What is GaN?
Gallium nitride is a semiconductor material that is used in smartphones, tablets, and compact USB chargers. It is notable among engineers for handling power more efficiently than traditional silicon. In the new Burmester system, a GaN-based chip manages the voltage conversion that powers a 400-watt subwoofer amplifier, which is the component responsible for the deep, resonant bass.
Because GaN loses less energy and generates less heat than silicon during power conversion, the electronics around it can be smaller. Porsche says this cuts cooling requirements substantially, letting the heat sink be built around 20% lighter while letting the passive components shrink too. The result is an amplifier that’s both lighter and more compact than earlier silicon-based designs. Less aluminium in the heat sink also means a smaller carbon footprint, since aluminium production is highly energy-intensive.
However, Porsche, being a sleek sports car maker, the weight loss, space and thermal savings, mean it can extract more power from the system without paying a weight penalty.
What’s next
The GaN-based Burmester system is scheduled to enter series production in a future Porsche model from 2027. However, it isn’t stopping at audio. The company says it plans to explore GaN in the high-voltage systems of future electric vehicles, where the same efficiency and weight advantages could extend beyond sound into the powertrain itself.
