I wonder if wireless EV charging will gain any traction...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/14/bmw-and-siemens-partnering-for-wireless-charging-evs-cutting-th/

It would be cool! Especially on the highways... seeing your charge increase while driving. :shock:

Not in the USA. So far we are too obsessed with who will pay for the 10 cents of electricity :lol: :roll:

smkettner said:

Not in the USA. We so we are too obsessed with who will pay for the 10 cents of electricity :lol: :roll:

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No kiddin'!

Cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut.... see a pattern?

IMHO, maybe it's time to start GROWING the country again.

Sorry OT.

Trust me, you will pay for it as you recharge.. and yes it will gain traction faster than the Killawatt, its really the only practical way to recharge while parked on the street.. no cables hanging out waiting for someone to steal them for the copper. The Feds should develop a standard so we dont have 200 different systems around the US.

Witricity and Delphi are also working on a similar system, 95% efficiency.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/11/01/delphi-partners-with-witricity-on-automated-wireless-charging-sy/

another company, HaloIPT

http://www.haloipt.com/projects.aspx#n_details

There's also Plugless Power
http://www.pluglesspower.com/

I've been plugging my Zap Xebra into a wall socket in my garage for 4 years now. Compared to the cost of jackhammering out the concrete and installing a wireless charger and then having to park on the same side of the garage every day, I'll stick with the extension cord. Yes, I lose about 15 seconds of my valuable time every time I plug in and every time I unplug, but that's a price that does not bother me.

Wireless charging would be nice for people who park on the street, except that you could not get exclusive rights to a spot on the public street. You'd come home and your neighbor would be parked at your charging spot. And if you're thinking of installing them along the entire length of the street, well, who's going to pay the installation costs?

Maybe it could work for private parking structures with a card or coin operated payment system, but corded chargers would probably cost 1/4 as much to install. This looks to me like a really cool gadget for the super-rich.

Parking structure would need to be a low profile surface mount.
I still think the conductive cord is going to be way more efficeint.

daniel said:

And if you're thinking of installing them along the entire length of the street, well, who's going to pay the installation costs?

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You will pay for it, thats what gasoline and property taxes are for.. it would be nice if the entire street had them but that may take a while, BEVs will be the majority by then.

Eventually, with mass production, the charging pads wont be that expensive, perhaps they may even be moneymakers by automatically charging you for the parking space and the charge.. no more parking meters or parking meter maids. Perhaps certain companies will win the franchise of lining your street with the pads.

Am I the only person who thinks that wireless power transfer is a BAD idea? If you are worried about the "radiation" (aka energy) your cell phone is putting out, do you really want a giant power transfer device anywhere near your body? How do you stop this wireless energy from going in to your body?

I think its really funny people won't live near a power transmission line due to EMF concerns, but have no qualms about wireless power transfer....

-Matt

Not all forms of energy are the same.. the phone by your ear is pumping radio frequencies em fields into your brain, that can do damage.. actually heats up your brain tissues because the frequency is accepted well by water. These devices trap those em fields within themselves and only emit magnetic fields.. magnetic fields have no effect on biological tissues. Unlike a high voltage transmission line, you can actually light up a fluorescent tube from the em fields under them.

smkettner said:

Parking structure would need to be a low profile surface mount.
I still think the conductive cord is going to be way more efficient.

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Maybe a 1" pad?.. Yes the cords will be more efficient, but eventually the contacts get worn or dirty, cheap 120V sockets are notorious for this, the moment you feel them starting to get warm replace them. The Leaf uses the power of two hairdryers, does your hairdryer cord get warm where it plugs in?

The advantage of automatic cordless recharging is convenience, no cable clutter and no vandalism.

Herm said:

daniel said:

And if you're thinking of installing them along the entire length of the street, well, who's going to pay the installation costs?

Click to expand...

You will pay for it, thats what gasoline and property taxes are for.. it would be nice if the entire street had them but that may take a while, BEVs will be the majority by then.

Eventually, with mass production, the charging pads wont be that expensive, perhaps they may even be moneymakers by automatically charging you for the parking space and the charge.. no more parking meters or parking meter maids. Perhaps certain companies will win the franchise of lining your street with the pads.

Click to expand...

Property taxes won't pay for it until enough people have EVs capable of using them to get a majority vote. And if the whole street is not converted, you'll never be certain that the slot will be available, and even then you won't be certain because the neighbor has a party and their guests take all the street parking. And in a neighborhood where people don't have garages, street parking is already problematic (such as where my step-sister lives in San Francisco).

Further, your house already has grid power, but wireless the street chargers require digging up the pavement, running electrical service to the street level, and paying for the charger itself. Adoption will be further slowed by the chicken-and-egg problem: People don't want to pay for the car side of the system if they cannot use it, and taxpayers won't vote for the public expenditure if they don't have the car capable of using it. The first generation of EVs are plug-in. So you'll need to have a lot of people willing to pay for the full set-up: wireless car and wireless charging pad in their garage PLUS conventional charging in the car for opportunity charging, and willing to accept the lowered efficiency and thus higher cost to charge. Only when enough people have that set-up will there be public support for in-street charging.

It may happen, but not within the next two or three decades. Until then, as I said above, it will be a cool gadget for the rich.

$5 a gallon for gasoline may speed things up.. but maybe not, a car that gets 40mpg is equivalent to one that gets 20mpg when gas was $2.50 a gallon. $10 a gallon will make a big dent.

$10 a gallon will help EV adoption. I doubt that it will speed up wireless charging all that much.

Here's another reason against wireless: I have two EVs. (The EV Porsche is still being fixed, but once it's done I'll have two in the garage.) I can switch plugs without moving the cars. If I had a wireless charging pad, presumably I'd have to juggle cars if I wanted to charge the one that was not sitting on the pad. Few people have two EVs now, but when gas gets to $10 a gallon it will start happening. How many pads do you want to install before you realize it's easier to plug in, and just switch plugs when you need to charge 2 or 3 cars on one available circuit?

Some systems have longer range, the pad is on the wall and covers the whole garage.. recharging your power tools, electric lawmower and two BEVs.. obviously there will be power limitiations.. but 6.6kw should not be a problem.