Charging your car without the use of wires — and while driving down the road, no less — sounds a lot like a pipe dream, eh?
Not so.
Wireless tech giant Qualcomm acquired innovative New Zealand startup HaloIPT late last year and has announced that they will soon begin testing the new inductive charging technology in London. The company has kept the original name, dubbing the technology the Qualcomm Halo.
According to Think Progress, “San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. recently announced that it has partnered with the automaker Renault for a field trial of its new wireless electric vehicle charging system later this year in London.”
How does the inductive EV charging work?
Wireless electric vehicle charging (WEVC) technology uses magnetic induction to couple power from a base charging unit (BCU) to a vehicle charging unit (VCU). Power is transferred to the VCU pad via magnetic coupling, and is used to charge the vehicle’s batteries. Communication between the VCU and BCU ensures minimal impact on the grid.
The interesting thing is that the charging capability is equal to plug-in charging, does not interfere with other electronics, and does not require precision parking to work effectively.
But why stop at inductive charging at home?
The goal of the trial is test both the technical and the commercial viability of the wireless electric vehicle charging system. One thing is for sure, HaloIPT (and not Qualcomm) has never set their sights merely on static charging pads.
As a matter of fact, as distantly as two years ago HaloIPT was planning on electrifying part of London’s M25 Roadway for testing of dynamic inductive charging. According to Qualcomm’s Halo mini site, the plans for dynamic charging are still in the works. Establishing the WEVC technology at stationary locations is a huge step in building infrastructure, but implementing dynamic inductive charging into roadways would completely eliminate “range anxiety” commonly associated with electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs).
Hey, between solar-energy generating roadways and dynamic inductive EV charging, maybe we have a clean energy existence in our near future after all.