Apparatus and method for driving a switching element, and a vehicle air-conditioning apparatus

A drive apparatus for driving a switching element, the switching element including a transistor having a high-heat resistant semiconductor including silicon carbide, the apparatus comprising:

• a voltage adjusting unit configured to vary a driving voltage, the driving voltage being applied to a conduction control terminal of the switching element in order to put the switching element in an ON state;
• a mode switching unit configured to switch between a normal mode and a heat generating mode;
• and
• a temperature sensing unit configured to detect an ambient temperature of the switching element;
• wherein, in the heat generating mode, when a temperature detected by the temperature sensing unit exceeds a predetermined threshold, the heat generating mode is switched to the normal mode by the mode switching unit, and
• wherein the voltage adjusting unit applies, as the driving voltage, a voltage in an active region of the transistor to the conduction control terminal in the heat generating mode, and applies, as the driving voltage, a voltage in a saturation region of the transistor to the conduction control terminal in the normal mode.