…Spoiler alert: that works brilliantly. So we want to charge wirelessly with more cars than just the Volvo XC40.
Because yes, this is just a test now. Anyone who has ever had to charge an electric or plug-in hybrid car knows it. Those cables. Those clumsy cables. Those nasty cables. Those cables that you can never properly fit into the compartment or into the special bag for charging cables. As if you had to bring your own filling hose to a gas station. It's just not really useful. Because of those cables you might only want to charge quickly, because the cable is always attached to the charging station.
Volvo solves it
Since last year, a small fleet of fully electric XC40s with taxi plates have been driving around, helping to test wireless charging technology. Over a period of three years, this electric fleet will be used by Cabonline, the largest taxi company in Scandinavia. This wireless charging test is one of several projects within the Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative, where designated areas in the city are used as live testbeds for the development of sustainable technologies.
So much for PR speak. We were shuttled to a kind of business complex / hip start-up factory in Gothenburg. There was a taxi stand in front of the door with two large blue pavement tiles. As a joke (not really hilarious, I admit) I shouted that these were the charging pads. So that was the case. You don't see more than a blue area, just get rid of those ugly charging stations and all those annoying cables.
Wireless charging with the Volvo XC40 Recharge
“When the car is properly aligned with the built-in pad, charging will begin automatically, allowing drivers to easily charge without leaving their car.”
It's really not much more complicated than that. You place the car neatly above it and the charging process can start. The margin is 7.5 centimeters, so you have to be able to park a little bit. Which is also a temporary problem with all those cars that can park themselves (see the video of the BMW i7 driving a course itself).
The charging stations used in the test were supplied by Momentum Dynamics. They are connected to the DC fast chargers at the same location. The “blue paving stone” then sends the energy to the underside of the car. Of course, Volvo had to adapt the XC40 to make wireless charging possible. It is not yet ready for production, but when asked, Volvo project leader Robert Eriksson said that this solution does not have to be super expensive.
Wireless charging is fast and efficient
I didn't find it very surprising that you can charge wirelessly in a car. If it is possible with a telephone, then a larger battery should also work. What surprised me is how fast charging goes: with the current solution for the Volvo XC40 they achieve 40 kW, but that can be even faster in the future.
The charge loss is also something to worry about. There is air between the charging pad and the car, so that can't go well, right? Yes, indeed, the loss between car and street is less than 1%. So negligible. Especially when you consider that around 9-10% of power is lost during fast charging.
Will we see wireless charging in production?
I sincerely hope so, because it is really very easy. The streets (and driveways) are also not marred by charging stations and charging cables that you can trip over. Volvo will continue testing the system in the coming years. In total, the Volvos will be used for more than 12 hours a day and will cover 100,000 km per year. This seems absolutely brilliant to me for a plug-in hybrid: most people don't find it worth plugging in, but wireless charging definitely solves that.
This article I started charging wirelessly with an XC40… first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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