WiTricity Working With GM To Test Wireless EV Charging System

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A wireless EV charging system like this one would be great for paid parking lots. You could just pull in, choose to pay for parking and/or charge your car, do your shopping and come back to a fully charged car.

WiTricity, the industry pioneer in wireless power transfer over distance, today announced it is working with General Motors (GM) to test an advanced wireless charging system prototype for electric vehicles. The companies are working together to test WiTricity’s Drive 11 park-and-charge system, designed for maximum efficiency and interoperability across vehicle platforms. The prototype testing focuses on wireless charging systems at 7.7 and 11 kW charge rates, capable of charging both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and extended range electric vehicles (EREVs), and is intended to comply with standards proposed by SAE International’s J2954 Committee.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but if some type of critter crawls under there while it's charging, would it be enough to kill it? Say, a cat?
 
As someone who has the exact car pictured (Gen2 Volt, even the same color Heather Grey) this tech is pretty sweet.... the volt can only charge at 3.6kW though so the super high speed stuff isn't necessary. I rigged up my own sort of semi-automated solution just because I don't want cords on my floor or shit on my walls



it's a drop down charge tube wired to a dedicated 240V circuit, controlled by a linear actuator. I could have gotten more fancy and rigged up some sort of automated drop down system with a pi controller or something but this was just fine, best part is, the most expensive parts (actuator and controller) were heavily discounted for me since the company sponsored my work :)
 
Nifty idea....but I think to bulky. A gear strip based system would be much more compact and reliable IMO...most likely a ton cheaper.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Forgive my ignorance, but if some type of critter crawls under there while it's charging, would it be enough to kill it? Say, a cat?
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The expanding and collapsing magnetic field from charger won't microwave Mittens, sadly. You can look up induction if you want the basics of the tech, "induction heating" will get you the simplest explanation.
 
Unless there's some mayor advantages... I mean how hard is it to plug something in?
 
This is why I couldn't understand why Tesla was R&Ding that funky scorpion robot cord thingy. This seems way more practical for a widespread solution .
 
I think it's actually brilliant. How many have destroyed their input driving off without unplugging their car....
 
collegeboy69us said:
it's a drop down charge tube wired to a dedicated 240V circuit, controlled by a linear actuator. I could have gotten more fancy and rigged up some sort of automated drop down system with a pi controller or something but this was just fine, best part is, the most expensive parts (actuator and controller) were heavily discounted for me since the company sponsored my work :)
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Does a stripper come out at the press of a button as well?
 
So this sounds like a great way to make electric vehicles just as environmentally shitty as internal combustion engines. Because wireless charging "gives back" so much in inefficiency compared to wires that you may as well just frack some more.

Terrible idea. Just stop being a lazy piece of first world problem shitstains and plug in a cable. This is right up there with solar powered roads, as far as bad ideas go.
 
Spidey329 said:
This is why I couldn't understand why Tesla was R&Ding that funky scorpion robot cord thingy. This seems way more practical for a widespread solution .
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The problem is that all wireless charging is to a laughable point inefficient. People in California would have a heart attack at how bad it is.
 
TwiceOver said:
The problem is that all wireless charging is to a laughable point inefficient. People in California would have a heart attack at how bad it is.
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Don't try and confuse them with reality, just publish some fake news about how it will save the environment, and California will use tax payers money to subsidize rich people installing these.
 
EODetroit said:
So this sounds like a great way to make electric vehicles just as environmentally shitty as internal combustion engines. Because wireless charging "gives back" so much in inefficiency compared to wires that you may as well just frack some more.

Terrible idea. Just stop being a lazy piece of first world problem shitstains and plug in a cable. This is right up there with solar powered roads, as far as bad ideas go.
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But you can FEEL like you are being environmentally friendly, and isn't that the main point of having one right now? ;)
 
TwiceOver said:
The problem is that all wireless charging is to a laughable point inefficient. People in California would have a heart attack at how bad it is.
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I wouldn't call it "laughably" inefficient - that's really stretching it - but it'd generally be around 85% efficiency vs plugged, trading some efficiency and speed for convenience. Personally I'd stick to a cable, but maybe this is an attractive proposition for others, still higher efficiency relative to many alternatives.
 
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Spidey329 said:
This is why I couldn't understand why Tesla was R&Ding that funky scorpion robot cord thingy. This seems way more practical for a widespread solution .
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Wireless charging is less effective (so you have higher transmission losses) + it provides much slower charge rate.
 
And we don't do an Industry Standard hot-swap battery pack, so you pull into a gas station, swap and go ... just as easy as filling a gas tank ... something Exxon/Mobil could have pioneered to actually have a future as Oil/Gas/Coal comes to an end.
 
wgm3446 said:
I think it's actually brilliant. How many have destroyed their input driving off without unplugging their car....
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probably zero: Every plug in car I've known has a safety lockout that will not let you move the car if it's plugged in. (my volt is like this) It physically locks out the shifter if the car is still plugged in. The cords and systems used to charge pretty much any car are rather smart, before current even is allowed to flow the car checks a ton of things and monitors temperature of everything along the way, (even the cord)

Efficiency aside -- I do miss the days of just being able to throw my Nexus on it's charging pad and forgetting about it. Wireless charging (of anything) is one of those things you don't know you need until you use it for a while.
 
Let's say I'm old, and have the misfortune of needing a Defibrillator installed. wireless charging at this rate seems really bad for me. :confused:
 
ol1bit said:
Let's say I'm old, and have the misfortune of needing a Defibrillator installed. wireless charging at this rate seems really bad for me. :confused:
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Would likely depend on what type of defibrillator is implanted. People with unipolar defibrillators should obviously stay away. Modern bipolar units have been shown to be safe in the presence of household magnetic induction ovens and might be ok. This would need to be tested, obviously.
 
Uvaman2 said:
Wow...seriously! Some bored assholes around
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Yep, it's happened to me a couple dozen times this year while at work. Same goes for the other EV drivers I know as well. I drive a Volt so I can always get home on gas...but it's still fucking annoying. Company "security" has yet to do anything about it.
 
Grahamkracka said:
Yep, it's happened to me a couple dozen times this year while at work. Same goes for the other EV drivers I know as well. I drive a Volt so I can always get home on gas...but it's still fucking annoying. Company "security" has yet to do anything about it.
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I drive a volt too -- yay gen2.... lucky you have chargers at work, we dont I'm the only one with an electric car and they basically said nuts to even running a 120V outlet and me bringing my own charger. (yet they will spend thousands on christmas decorations)

Not sure if all J1772 connectors have them, but i think the Gen2 connector has a little cutout in the connector button you could sneak a small little key lock through, long as its click locked into the port they wouldn't be able to unplug it. Just a thought.
 
collegeboy69us said:
I drive a volt too -- yay gen2.... lucky you have chargers at work, we dont I'm the only one with an electric car and they basically said nuts to even running a 120V outlet and me bringing my own charger. (yet they will spend thousands on christmas decorations)

Not sure if all J1772 connectors have them, but i think the Gen2 connector has a little cutout in the connector button you could sneak a small little key lock through, long as its click locked into the port they wouldn't be able to unplug it. Just a thought.
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Our charging stations were 'donated' by the local Nissan and Chevy dealerships to help with the EV demand here. The charging is free, but I'm sure the cost is a write-off for them. As for the locking function o the gen2 connector, I would use it if I could plug my own charger in. But I can't...the charging station chargers don't have outlets and there is no locking function on the connectors. I brought that solution up a while back.
 
Grahamkracka said:
Our charging stations were 'donated' by the local Nissan and Chevy dealerships to help with the EV demand here. The charging is free, but I'm sure the cost is a write-off for them. As for the locking function o the gen2 connector, I would use it if I could plug my own charger in. But I can't...the charging station chargers don't have outlets and there is no locking function on the connectors. I brought that solution up a while back.
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That sucks man... just because security isnt' doing anything about it... I'd go all james bond and setup some sort of 24/7 running dash cam pointing at the charge port from inside the car to catch them and then dispense harsh stree justice.

I'd kill for even a few hours of even basic level 1 juice at work. Here in TX, my commute is about 75 miles all highway round trip, even with 53 miles of EV range, I still dip into gasoline every day and it kinda sucks. And as you know, I'm not getting the full 53 miles when I have to drive at 70+ on the highway the whole time.
 
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