Wireless charging for cars isn't as crazy as it might sound

This is indeed possible, but expensive and thus I doubt you'll see it anytime soon. Let's hope for plentiful charging stations of the basic manual kind first! FYI: The "Magnecharge" system developed by Aerovironment for GM (EV-1) and Toyota (RAV4 EV) used a sealed magnetic induction "paddle" to conduct charging energy into the car ostensibly to make it safe when wet. It was indeed costly and unecessesary.

 

And was wireless, so it's already here. Another journalist behind the times.

 

It's also called,
"fun things you can do with a Tesla coil"



http://www.tesladownunder.com/

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Is that the Australian dude? He was featured on Daily Planet last year.

 

I'm thinking that guy NEVER gets door dings in the parking lot.

 

you'll have to slam the car to make it work.


airbags for everybody!!!

 

CORDLESSLY...not wirelessly.

And why, what/where is the (justifiable) advantage...?

Transformer air gaps are a costly, LOSSY, matter.

A 2 watt tooth brush with a 30% PF is one thing... but a 50,000 watt hybrid battery...???!!!

NOT.

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Here's the current PowerMat, on PriusChat: http://priuschat.com/forums/freds-house-pancakes/83622-powermat-wireless-charging-pad-good-bad.html

 

The advantage is there is little chance of electrical shock hazard. But you are correct, they must be designed to minimize the air gap. Hence the previous "paddle cord" already used.

I'm just waiting for someone to lay the paddle next to some sensitive electronics. Can you say "poof"?

 

A "proper" "Paddle Cord" design would not allow it to be "Active" until the "connection" is made.

 

There is no reason why something extravagant as an inductive paddle is needed these days. Besides, this discussion is moot as the SAE, UL, etc, have decided upon the J1772 standard. It is not inductive, but it includes leakage current detection which makes it safe. There is also a pilot signal to insure that all external connections are electrically dead until the connector is firmly seated and an electrical handshake is made.

 

I think a bigger issue is that a lot of people feel attached to plugging things in right now, and I don't think that will change in 5 years. It's been a secure standard for a while and people like to stick to simple things, at least those not as tech savvy as everyone on here.

Not that people would avoid conveniences, but it's the same thing as HDTV's - a lot of homes still don't have them and now markets are pushing 3D. I meet a lot of simple-minded folks where I work, who have similar reasons for not purchasing newer technology. Such as not liking cars with keyless entry because they prefer having a key and feel it is more secure; or believing that manual toothbrushes are just as good as electric ones, that the new ones are gimmicky and a waste of money. Stuff like that.

Also, I was going to say but wwest40 already mentioned it, they are not truly wireless. And I honestly can't see any advantages other than a luxury and not having to bend over and plug your car in... although I can see how cool it would be if it was already all over the place.

 

You'd have to measure the loss to be sure, but in transformers, with -less- gap and complete surround of the magnetic media, the losses are 20% at lower power (2 kW and below) and can drop to 5% at high power. This at 60 Hz. At higher frequencies it can drop to 2% even at low power. For example, modern inverters to provide 60 Hz power from 12V often run in the 100 kHz range (using pulse width modulation to provide 60 Hz on the output).

It's not the loss they are worried about, it's the vision of dead customers on the garage floor. Ground fault systems are now quite reliable and they do make the paddle type superfluous as pEEf said. I suspect the paddle had the added benefit of no sparks, something that would probably be a "good idea" in a garage holding a gasoline powered vehicle, operated by the great unwashed public!

 

FYI: SAE J1772 (the new standard) is spark-free. All connector pins are dead until the pilot signal is negotiated, and only then is it applied. The current is also removed before you disconnect.

 

There is always a price to pay when you transmit fields. Even if the magnetic gap is zero you still have losses in the coils, among which are hysteresis, eddy currents, and resistive losses.

What's the fun in that. I'd be more inclined to use something from a Frankenstein movie, or perhaps one of those arc-suppression-gone-wrong videos. Nothing like 5 or 6 feet of dancing plasma to wake you up in the morning when you disconnect your EV.



Tom

 

Here's the new proposed level 8 EV charger disconnect standard when using the new super-fast 2.8 nanosecond charging system:

 

Ohhh my God that's awesome. I think fireworks in my garage would be super. =D