Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Puts An End To Range ‘Arms Race’
WiTricity Corp. CEO Alex Gruzen calls it a “silly arms race” where automakers are focusing their resources on promoting the speed of their plug-in electric vehicle chargers when the future seems to be headed towards wireless charging.
“To me, it’s like a really silly arms race trying to re-create the gasoline experience for an EV,” said Gruzen in a telephone interview. “I wish the industry would stop trying to recreate what they can’t recreate which is gas and start to embrace what’s really possible, which is charging where you park.”
Watertown, Mass.-based WiTricity licenses wireless charging technology to automakers and suppliers. Last year BMW began offering that capability using WiTricity’s system and Hyundai introduced a version of its Kona outfitted for wireless charging at last year’s Geneva Auto Show and it’s being tested on a fleet in Chengdu, China said Gruzen.
The obvious difference between wireless and plug-in charging is you don’t have to hook the car up to a cable to recharge it. A wall box is plugged into a 220 or 240-volt power source and a cable runs to a flat charging pad that sits on the ground. The vehicle is outfitted with a receiver and a dashboard indicator tells the driver when the vehicle is properly positioned over the pad. Current is transferred from the pad to the vehicle wirelessly.