Wireless Charging for Electric Cars.
Electric cars are a marvel of technology. And because constant improvements continue to increase their range, electric vehicles are becoming a viable option for more and more people wanting to drive innovation, literally. Technology moves onward and upward with unstoppable force, bearing astonishing developments in the coming years.
Let’s take a glimpse into the crystal ball: Imagine being able to charge your electric car without a cable. Simply driving over or parking on a charging platform would charge your battery. This technology would not only make charging more convenient for everyone – it could even make fully autonomous driving a reality. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? And the best part: This technology isn’t science fiction, it already exists.
Charge your car like your mobile phone.
Wireless power transmission is not new. Nikola Tesla, the eccentric inventor, made a bulb light up – as if by magic – during a demonstration at the New York University in 1891. The same principles he discovered then are still used today: for cordless smartphone charging, electric toothbrushes, and induction ovens, for example. And if everything goes according to plan, for electric cars as well.
Cordless charging requires the following components:
• Receiver pad: This plate receives the energy and is located on the undercarriage of the car – normally near the front axle.
• Charging Pad: An electric pad, connected to a power supply and fixed in the ground – at a traffic light, a designated parking spot, or in your garage, for example.
• Safety mechanisms: As this technology has the potential to harm humans, animals or objects, intelligent on-off-mechanisms must be in place for the electromagnetic fields.
In order to make seamless wireless charging possible for electric vehicles, roads will need to be widely equipped with charging pads. It may take another 10 years until we are able to top up at a red light, but you should see this technology spread fast elsewhere: the at the workplace garage, in designated parking spots, or even at your home.
A new charging rhythm.
As soon as wireless charging is no longer the exception but the rule, your charging behaviour is going to change, charging your vehicle several times a day – at home, at traffic lights, in parking lots, at work. Your battery will benefit from so-called "snack charging". And the shorter charge-discharge intervals will ultimately and lead to a longer battery life.
A pioneer of autonomous driving?
Self-driving vehicles are going to be mainstream in the not-so-distant future. These autonomous concept cars are currently only pilot projects that still require robotic refuelling. However, once wireless charging is widely available, autonomous vehicles can also fuel up autonomously – anywhere, anytime.
THE NEW AMPERA-E.
RANGE IS KING.
The days when electric cars were just for short trips are over:
- With 520 km* range on a single charge
- From 0 - 100 km/h in just 7.3 sec.
- Plenty of room for 5 passengers
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