Wireless charging may be a better fit for the automotive industry

[Shawn Knight]

Smartphones seemed like the perfect platform to fast track wireless charging to mainstream success. The idea was to eliminate the “first world problem” of having to physically connect your phone to a charging cable by replacing said cable with a charging mat. Simply place your smartphone on the mat and voila, it begins charging automatically.

In practice, however, it’s more proof of concept than practical feature – at least, at this stage of the game.

Because your phone must be placed on the mat while charging, you can’t really use it as you could if it was connected to a cable. In that sense, it’s really more “plugless” than “wireless.” What’s more, wireless chargers typically aren’t included with your smartphone, adding an additional expense for a feature that’s arguably less convenient.

As such, adoption of wireless smartphone charging has progressed slower than many anticipated but that doesn’t mean we should give up on the concept entirely. Indeed, maybe current wireless charging technology would be better suited for a different application entirely… like the automotive industry.

WiTricity, a wireless charging technology company, recently announced a partnership with General Motors in which the two will test a prototype wireless charging system for electric vehicles.

The WiTricity Drive 11 park-and-charge system is said to be designed for maximum efficiency and compatibility, allowing drivers to simply pull their vehicle into their garage and park directly over the wireless charging mat. Similarly, the charging pad can be installed under pavement for a seamless garage install or perhaps more commonly, in public and commercial parking lots.

Pamela Fletcher, GM Executive Chief Engineer – Electrified Vehicles, said wireless charging is a technology that customers have told them they are interested in. By testing the WiTricity prototype system, Fletcher added, they can ensure that wireless charging systems will comply with proposed industry standards which benefit both the auto industry and consumers.

WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen noted that wireless charging for EVs, based on industry standards, is inevitable as we move toward a future of self-driving and autonomous vehicles. This project, he said, brings them one step closer to realizing their vision of a world powered wirelessly.

Initial testing, in compliance with standards proposed by SAE International’s J2954 Committee, will focus on 7.7 and 11 kW charge rates, we’re told.

GM isn’t the only partner WiTricity is working with as the company also has licensing agreements in place with other well-known automotive players including Toyota, Delphi, TDK, IHI and BRUSA.

Imagine a world in which self-driving vehicle fleets shuttle people around during the day and return to designated charging spots between rides or overnight. Aside from basic maintenance, there would be very little human oversight needed. And on the consumer side, most people park their vehicles in the same spot overnight on a pretty regular basis. Not having to remember to plug in your EV combined with not having a reason to swing by your local gas station is both convenient and practical.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/67494-wireless-charging-may-better-fit-automotive-industry.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Interesting idea, but there are two problems here

1. dirt buildup on the mat/underside of the car would significantly reduce the amount of charge that could be transmitted, meaning that the charge rates would be very difficult to keep up.

2. I sincerely doubt that they can get a 7, and most certainly not an 11 kw charger to work wirelessly. Manufacturers never figured out how to deliver a full amp through a qi charger, and the resistance and efficiency drop on such a big wireless charger would be huge. It certainly would work an an engine block heater, thats for sure.

Every year we hear about wireless replacing wired for data, power, ece. Remember how skylake was supposed to bring wireless charging in laptops? or how USB would die, with wifi and bluetooth being the future? But time and time again, wireless has proven to be far more finicky, slower, and ultimately not as good as good old copper for power, and copper or fiber for data. Especially for high amperage charging for cars, I dont see wireless working out well.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Wireless induction charging isn't as good an idea.

It's less efficient than plugs.

It takes more time than plugs.

It isn't as "flexible"... I can extend the cable as much as I need to reach other vehicles.

 

[Mouldy CPU]

Wireless induction charging isn't as good an idea.

It's less efficient than plugs.

It takes more time than plugs.

It isn't as "flexible"... I can extend the cable as much as I need to reach other vehicles.

There's nothing stopping you from extending the power cord that connects the matt to a power source.

Wireless charging is safer because you don't have to remember to unplug the charging cable before driving away.

 

[yRaz]

What people aren't considering is that you can out these in the roads so you don't up as much battery while driving. You could pay for the power with something like easypass

 

[mbrowne5061]

Pumping that much power into the air - assuming they can do it at all - is likely to cause issues with nearby medical devices like pacemakers.

I don't see this catching on.

 

[p51d007]

LOL, here's what they should do. Remember the old school slot car tracks?

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Why aren't we putting much more work into hydrogen fueled cars? While batteries and charging has slowly improved over time, it still ultimately isn't enough for us. Yet hydrogen could be, the technology is already available. What is the hold up? [cue someone with real knowledge on the subject to give a useful and meaningful response]

 

[ChrisH1]

Wireless induction charging isn't as good an idea.

It's less efficient than plugs.

It takes more time than plugs.

It isn't as "flexible"... I can extend the cable as much as I need to reach other vehicles.

There's nothing stopping you from extending the power cord that connects the matt to a power source.

Wireless charging is safer because you don't have to remember to unplug the charging cable before driving away.

Electric vehicles have a failsafe, you CAN'T drive them off while plugged in. At least that's certainly the case with Tesla, and I cannot imagine any EV developer leaving that out. Would be daft.

 

[ChrisH1]

Why aren't we putting much more work into hydrogen fueled cars? While batteries and charging has slowly improved over time, it still ultimately isn't enough for us. Yet hydrogen could be, the technology is already available. What is the hold up? [cue someone with real knowledge on the subject to give a useful and meaningful response]

1. Cost. Installing a hydrogen fuelling station is hugely expensive. An electric fuelling station uses existing infrastructure and technology and is much cheaper to set up.

2. Availability. Where do you get your hydrogen from, and how do you distribute it? Yes, you can use electrolysis, but losses and inefficiencies mean you would have been better off using that electricity in a battery for an EV.

3. Safety. No matter how well you build that tank, sooner or later one's going to get ruptured. Hydrogen fires are scary stuff, it burns you and you can barely see the flame. And the disaster if one of the refuelling trucks crashed doesn't bear thinking about.

4. Green-ness. Most hydrogen is obtained from coal/oil sources, so you're not helping at the moment.

5. Pollution. Unless you're talking about hydrogen fuel cells, burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine still produces pollutants as nitrogen in the air gets partially turned to nitrogen dioxide.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

A really well designed, magnetic plug and receptacle could make it very quick and easy to charge... and even disconnect itself safely if the vehicle drives away (assuming the vehicle doesn't already prevent that). Then it just comes down to remembering to charge your vehicle.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

1. Cost. Installing a hydrogen fuelling station is hugely expensive. An electric fuelling station uses existing infrastructure and technology and is much cheaper to set up.

2. Availability. Where do you get your hydrogen from, and how do you distribute it? Yes, you can use electrolysis, but losses and inefficiencies mean you would have been better off using that electricity in a battery for an EV.

3. Safety. No matter how well you build that tank, sooner or later one's going to get ruptured. Hydrogen fires are scary stuff, it burns you and you can barely see the flame. And the disaster if one of the refuelling trucks crashed doesn't bear thinking about.

4. Green-ness. Most hydrogen is obtained from coal/oil sources, so you're not helping at the moment.

5. Pollution. Unless you're talking about hydrogen fuel cells, burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine still produces pollutants as nitrogen in the air gets partially turned to nitrogen dioxide.

Well I imagine installing all the gasoline fueling stations was hugely expensive... I think companies are just looking for a cheap and easy solution. Sometimes you have to fight for something good.

As for green-ness, isn't more than 50% of energy in the US coming from coal burning?

And pollution.... I was thinking of hydrogen fuel cells. I didn't realize burning it in an ICE was an option.

Anyway it just feels to me a lot of corporations don't want hydrogen fuel to be the answer, rather than it just being too big of a challenge.

 

[skipmichael]

Why aren't we putting much more work into hydrogen fueled cars? While batteries and charging has slowly improved over time, it still ultimately isn't enough for us. Yet hydrogen could be, the technology is already available. What is the hold up? [cue someone with real knowledge on the subject to give a useful and meaningful response]

Real reason: Hydrogen can be made by just about anybody, thus driving the price down. No symbiotic relationship between the auto manufacturing and hydrogen producers exists; unlike the auto industry and big oil of today.
Here is a question for you. Does the U.S. Navy have a hydrogen powered ship? See if you can find the answer.

 

[cuerdc]

Mobile fast charge

 

[RayWK]

Wireless charging is the best for small DRIVERLESS shuttle buses serving neighborhoods for the first mile/last mile solution in urban areas.

 

[RayWK]

Why aren't we putting much more work into hydrogen-fueled cars? While batteries and charging have slowly improved over time, it still ultimately isn't enough for us. Yet hydrogen could be, the technology is already available. What is the hold up? [cue someone with real knowledge on the subject to give a useful and meaningful response]

The energy cost to split water into H and O exceeds the energy that fuel cells can store and deliver to vehicles. Why not transfer that electrical energy directly to vehicle batteries and eliminate the cost of more distribution networks?

 

[captaincranky]

There's nothing stopping you from extending the power cord that connects the matt to a power source.

Wireless charging is safer because you don't have to remember to unplug the charging cable before driving away.

Yeah, everything should be designed for the lowest common denominator of stupid, lazy, and forgetful. Just put the damned charging plug parallel with the vehicle's expected line of travel, and it will unplug itself should you drive away.

Oh but wait, I'm sure next you're going to say, "Whaa, but then I'll have to bend over to plug it in, since the best place for the socket would be under the center of the rear bumper.

I can't even imagine how much RFI trying to charge a city full of cars with a wireless strategy could possibly produce. It might even be enough to knock out people's precious iPhones.

"Oh my God, I can't run my mouth on the phone while the car is charging. How can I possibly endure this inconvenience"?

 

[captaincranky]

What people aren't considering is that you can out these in the roads so you don't up as much battery while driving. You could pay for the power with something like easypass

We'd be better off sticking with fossil fuels, with the expense of something as outlandish as that. Do you know how much copper is going for a pound these days? Do you think there would be enough coming back as scrap to support a project such as this nationwide? Do you have any idea how much American workers would expect in wages to dig enough copper up to finish the project?

For God's sake, they're shipping computer PSU's without electrical cables for this very reason, copper is too expensive to waste replacing the cord with every change of power supply.

And last but certainly not least, do you have any idea how much air pollution would be created running the massive numbers of Diesel powered heavy equipment to mine that much copper? I mean really, it takes too much effort to plug in a car, imagine how big the cord would need to be for a 20+ ton earth mover?

The final irony is, "gee, maybe wer should invent wireless charging heavy equipment before we start the project so we don't pollute".

Hey, maybe Elon Musk would condescend to take a crap load more tax credits to conjure up this type of equipment for us. Doubtless we couldn't afford it. But it wouldn't hurt to ask, or would it?

. Can you imagine the size of the lithium ion battery that b**ch would need?

 

[captaincranky]

A really well designed, magnetic plug and receptacle could make it very quick and easy to charge... and even disconnect itself safely if the vehicle drives away (assuming the vehicle doesn't already prevent that). Then it just comes down to remembering to charge your vehicle.

Not to mention that fact that auto manufacturers would be all too happy to design a plug system that disengages when it sensed the vehicle in motion. Optional, at extra cost, of course.

I'm also sure "Wi Tricity" would be more than willing to piss away as much of GM's money as it possibly could "researching the feasibility of the wireless charging of cars". Hey, let's do trucks too...(y)

 

[yRaz]

We'd be better off sticking with fossil fuels, with the expense of something as outlandish as that. Do you know how much copper is going for a pound these days? Do you think there would be enough coming back as scrap to support a project such as this nationwide? Do you have any idea how much American workers would expect in wages to dig enough copper up to finish the project?

For God's sake, they're shipping computer PSU's without electrical cables for this very reason, copper is too expensive to waste replacing the cord with every change of power supply.

We don't HAVE to use copper, by the time such a project gets approved(and the funding for it) graphene will be a real thing. Aluminum and graphene would render

And last but certainly not least, do you have any idea how much air pollution would be created running the massive numbers of Diesel powered heavy equipment to mine that much copper? I mean really, it takes too much effort to plug in a car, imagine how big the cord would need to be for a 20+ ton earth mover?

why can't we just shoot lighting bolts at them?

 

[captaincranky]

We don't HAVE to use copper, by the time such a project gets approved(and the funding for it) graphene will be a real thing. Aluminum and graphene would render

OK, there was a copper shortage in the past. So, they took to using aluminum wires in new home construction. Aluminum is a lousy conductor compared to copper, so they had to up the wire gauge, at least one, possibly more. In other words 14 gauge copper required 12 gauge aluminum and so forth. Then people started burning down their houses using outlets and switches designed for copper. A problem which was not anticipated when the switch to aluminum was made. As for "graphene", I'm sure that we have test tubes full of it today, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll have tanker trucks full of it tomorrow.

"Wireless charging for cars" is nothing but a money grab, trying to convince people it's a necessity, It's a bullsh!t abuse of research money, along the lines of some stupid a** light bulb that people are trying to convince you "you need" to connect light bulbs to the internet

why can't we just shoot lighting bolts at them?

Yeah, you've been reading too many Marvel comics and not paying any attention. Everybody knows the only person who can do sh!t like that is, "Storm". .......er. my Prince.