Volvo Car Group has completed a wireless charging system trial for electric vehicles, concluding that although the technology works and is considered safe, its lack of common standard means it is not yet ready for the consumer market.
Inductive charging, which uses an electromagnetic field instead of a cable to transfer energy between two objects, is common in electrical home appliances such as electrical toothbrushes but is not yet commercially available to charge electric cars, says the Swedish car manufacturer.
Nevertheless, says Lennart Stegland, vice president for electric propulsion systems at Volvo, inductive charging for electric vehicles has great potential.
“Cordless technology is a comfortable and effective way to conveniently transfer energy. The study also indicates that it is safe,” he said. “There is not yet any common standard for inductive charging. We will continue our research and evaluate the feasibility of the technology in our hybrid and electric car projects.”
“With inductive charging, you simply position the car over a charging device and charging starts automatically. We believe that this is one of the factors that can increase the customer’s acceptance of electrified vehicles.”
A number of other companies and research institutions are also looking into wireless vehicle charging, including the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and New York University.
