Implementation and trials of EV wireless Charging.

Coming along with our previous posts, complementing David’s post on USU wireless electrical bus and finishing with the automotive industry, here are some other real implementations, trials and products of EV wireless charging we found already on the market!

·         Qualcomm acquired HaloIPT and did a trial of wireless charging pads in London. If you read our previous posts you can understand that this trial was implemented with cars that had a receiver coil that will get the energy from a transmitter coil installed in some parking spots through the city.

·         Another company called Plug-less Power in collaboration with Bosch, is commercializing already wireless charging pads for certain EV vehicles in the market such as Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt. The company is planning to expand its services. Check their video!

   

·         HEVO Power will provide opportunistic charging, known as Green​ Park​ing Zones​,​ for New York City dwellers and commuters gearing up to purchase a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle starting next year. Incredibly convenient, once you park, your car will start powering up​right away.  These static and quasi-dynamic wireless charging locations provide cost savings and emission reduction benefits for both vehicle owners and municipalities. HEVO's wireless solution also eliminates the hassle and potential liability risk of an EV power cord in an urban setting. EV drivers will be able to use an app that provides key features like Map It! to find vacant spots; Park it! to guide you into the right location over power stations; Pay It! which provides users with wireless bill pay; Want It! for discounts and coupons offered by local vendors in the area; a Power meter, so you can visually check on your vehicle powering up; and data utilization which shows our users their battery percentage, balances and emission savings.

·         Toyota Central R&D Labs and Toyohashi University of technology develop a prototype of dynamic charging. Currently, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed a version of the idea, what they call the on-line electric vehicle (OLEV) system. The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) decided to license the technology which it’s been tested and implemented at Boston’s Logan Airport. OLEVs are charged by wireless power supply strips embedded in roadbeds as they travel above. The university hopes the deal will lead to further exports to cities or airports in the U.S. and environmentally sensitive regions such as Europe. It is already in talks to supply the system to Park City in Utah.  

    These OLEVs buses are also currently being operated at Seoul Zoo. The tram is equipped with a battery that is one-fifth the size of a typical EV battery and doesn't need overhead power wires to keep it charged. The prototype was the world's first electromagnetically-charged tram. THE OLEV is used too at Seoul Grand Park amusement park and shuttle buses on the school campus and few lines. We can see how once the technology emerge and is implemented successfully.

Because of the fixed routes buses run and frequent stops they make, induction charging is ideal and engineers can ensure that buses get a proper charge every trip without a need to stop and recharge. Instead of charging up a massive battery overnight or before a route, a smaller battery setup will recharge through time. The smaller batteries also free up interior space, reduce downtime and lower battery costs — although induction plates must be added to bus stops. Ideally, this technology would be used in city centers to replace noisy, smoky diesel buses.

Induction charging is already powering buses in some countries here in Europe:

You might think charging a bus through induction may be a new idea but buses in Torino, Italy have used this system since 2003, routes in Utrecht, the Netherlands, since 2010, there some routes in other cities like Augsburg in Germany…

Example in Germany. 

Thanks to the Primove trial of two electric buses in the city of Mannheim, passengers on the bus 63 route in Mannheim are riding the bus in a more peaceful, quieter and environmental friendly way. Charging pads were installed at stops along the route and the bus is able to run without interruption and charge while it’s picking up passengers. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology take data gleaned from the tested bus to determine whether the batteries installed in the trial buses were the right size for the vehicle, and also monitor how much stress the electric buses put on the local power grid.

Example in Netherlands.

E-Moss is testing a 39-foot all-electric bus and induction charging panels in Den Bosch.

This bus is a converted Volvo that has had its diesel heart ripped out and replaced with batteries and an inductive power transfer wireless charging system. The bus uses both overnight wired charging and on-the-route wireless opportunity charges at bus stops.

We have seen there are plenty of examples around us. Next time while I am waiting to take the bus, for sure I am going to pay attention to the stop and the bus itself, how cool could be to stand in a bus that is better for our enviroment and moves smoothly using our beloved wireless power technology?

Research projects & prototypes on vehicles wireless charguing.

If you remember from our previous post, we have two kind of wireless charging methods.

The static one that works when vehicles are not moving; and the dynamic one that works when the vehicle is on the go.

As promised before, here are some of the recent researches that have been conducted, some prototypes and some trials. Fasten your seat belts, we are going to start!

·       Flanders Drive Research Project: a partnership between vehicle OEMs (Volvo, Vanhool), inductive charger providers (Inverto, Bombardier), universities (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and many more, conducted a research and evaluate different applications of wireless charging.

   In the static charging, the power transfer and efficiency of the vehicle will depends on its                    positioning.   They studied the implications on cars.

                

In the dynamic method, a full road is equipped with an inductive stretch. Power transfer will occur for any vehicle equipped. The research they did on dynamics focused only on buses.

For the system to work, speed was a key element as well as vehicle positioning.  Dynamic charging could be complemented by charging buses at bus stops. Main problems were grid interfacing, metering and billing.  Actually they did a trial with a prototype. Check the video!

·         Stanford University research team has also designed a high-efficiency charging system that uses magnetic fields to wirelessly transmit large electric currents between metal coils placed several feet apart. 

Their long-term goal is to develop an all-electric highway that wirelessly charges vehicles as they cruise down the road. The problem here will be how to install the system and what materials to use such as install it on the middle of the road or in the side, use asphalt or concrete and so forth.

·        The National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management has done basic research using several models, in partnership with Tokyo University.  They have verified wireless capability in an experiment using a model, enabling a stable electricity supply on the move by using a transmission coil and a receiver coil that are very different in size.

·       At the University of Karlsruhe some students have created a prototype vehicle that gets its energy from electric conducting paths on the ground tracks through electric induction.

These are just a few projects.
Want to discover more cool wireless vehicles?
Wait for my team's next post!

See you soon!

Is it possible to apply wireless technology on the automobile sector?

YES it is!

Electric vehicles (EV) available nowadays in the market are highly efficient at energy utilization. They are considered as a really important and feasible option in relationship with environmental issues due to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (lowering carbon footprint). 

The most common way to charge their battery is using a cable, however, many studies have been carried out on developing wireless charging technology. Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Volvo, Toyota, Delphi, WiTricity, Siemens and many other companies are already partnering and working on inductive charging. 

Some enthusiastic experts imagine a future where cars can be charged wirelessly in automated highways by using renewable energy sources.

There is two way in which EV wireless charging technology can be divided:

1. The first one is the dynamic charging, meaning you are charging the EV while driving.

                      

2. The second one is the static charging, meaning you are charging the EV while is standing still, while they are parked.

  

As you already know if you follow us weekly, the wireless power transfer is based on a technology called magnetic resonance coupling. Two copper coils are tuned to resonate at the same natural frequency. One coil is connected to an electric current, which generates a magnetic field that causes the second coil to resonate. Applied to vehicles, this magnetic resonance results in the invisible transfer of electric energy through the air from the first coil to the receiving as the vehicle speeds along or while is parked.

The static method face some complex issues as a physical wire is required to be plugged in to an electric outlet. Another major drawback of plug-in electric cars is their limited driving range, many drives are worried about running out of power before trip’s end or have to spend hours until the battery is fully charged.
Plus also there are other issues related to charging time frame and safety concern

Up to the present time, static charging is the most popular between recent studies and normally many of the existing systems use transmitters and receivers of same size and shape, which make them inappropriate for supplying power to running vehicles. Nevertheless, there are many organizations that have started research on the field of dynamic charging.

Having said that, we can group in general terms the uses of wireless power as The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US Department of energy) did in a research  on  same topic (according to who is the user and how is the technology used) :

• After market stationary wireless vehicle charging system (plug in electric vehicle owners).
  
  
  
  
  
• Closed route electric vehicles with bus stop charging pads (airports, municipalities,universities).

• Parking lot pay per charge systems (government).

• Street/highway in motion charging systems (government). 

This technology will be all around before we even realize, actually static charging is been on the market for a while! In the following posts we are going over some research examples and videos to get to know this application of wireless power a little bit better as well as some trials and products already out there. You dont want to miss it!