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Wireless charging is the future in my opinion. [1] It has more uses, less moving parts to go bad such as corroded contacts, has uses outside of EV, is safer an

Wireless charging is the future in my opinion. [1] It has more uses, less moving parts to go bad such as corroded contacts, has uses outside of EV, is safer and does not require people fumbling with cables in the rain or snow. Pull into a spot and you are already charging. Rest areas could use these for both EV's and non EV, such as keeping an electric heater going and the vehicle battery charged in cold weather areas. The wireless chargers could even one day extend communications devices and internet. RV parks could use wireless pads to start phasing out the 120/240 terminal posts and also provide internet. With some improvements there could even be charging pads on roads that are often congested during rush hour and that commonly turn into 2 hour slow moving parking lots, potentially powered in part by solar freeway medians. This may require changes to the existing pads to operate more along the line of longer inductive rails. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8EF7ZGORS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8EF7ZGORS0

clouddrover 4y ago
Another wireless charging demo at 55 kW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq7SP18sPKw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq7SP18sPKw
maximus-decimus 4y ago
Isn't wireless charging inherently worse for the battery because of the heat and less efficient?
- LinuxBender 4y ago
  One would think so but there is no heat and the modern wireless chargers are very efficient. It may be worth watching the video I linked as efficiency methods and differences from typical low power devices are explained. From the video wireless charging is 99% efficient and can scale to hundreds of kilowatts.
  - maximus-decimus 4y ago
    99% is still not that amazing in my opinion if you're charging something with as much energy as a car. 1% * 50KWH is 0.5 KWH, so the same as running a 1KW heater for half an hour. According to this website, boiling 1L of water from room temperature is about 0.1KWH, so you could boil 5 litres of water : https://seesustainability.co.uk/blog/f/boiling-water---how-much-energy#:~:text=A%20kettle%20or%20a%20boiling,in%20the%20form%20of%20heat https://seesustainability.co.uk/blog/f/boiling-water---how-m....
    - LinuxBender 4y ago
      99% is the same as the plug-in chargers.
    - clouddrover 4y ago
      Wireless EV charging achieves similar efficiency to wired charging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmIIe9N_aI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmIIe9N_aI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1gaNO9nj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1gaNO9nj0
      - maximus-decimus 4y ago
        Only checked the first link quickly but he both makes then asumption havin the car in sentry mode spend 0 energy and also realizes it spends enough energy to making charging your car slower less efficient than fast charging. The second one is interesting, but I don't find it very convincing since thel say themselves they don't understand the results. They're doing their best, but their testing is just not exactly greatly scientific. They're testing it outside with a whole real car running without controlling for anything like battery temp.
spaceywilly 4y ago
I am surprised companies haven’t a done more with wireless EV charging. Wireless charging almost seems like a necessity for full autonomy, since the car can’t plug and unplug itself, but it could easily be programmed to drive over a charging pad when not in use. As you mention, it is quite efficient. One thing people may not realize is current wired charging requires quite a bit of complex circuitry in the car to convert line voltages to the levels needed to charge the battery. With wireless charging, this transformation can happen at the interface between the two charging pads, so the efficiency is actually quite similar to a wired connection. I wouldn’t be surprised if wireless charging eventually becomes commonplace, but my understanding is the current technology isn’t quite ready yet. It requires the car to be parked precisely over the pad, and isn’t able to charge as fast as current wired charging tech.
rasz 4y ago
Wireless charging is great ... for a toothbrush, but not when you are throwing away tens of kilowatt-hours per day.
- LinuxBender 4y ago
  The EV charging pads are 99% efficient. These are not at all the same tech as your toothbrush or cell phone.
  - TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
    Only if you are aligned correctly. Otherwise it will fall down to 0% with few centimeters misalignment

clouddrover 4y ago

Another wireless charging demo at 55 kW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq7SP18sPKw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq7SP18sPKw

maximus-decimus 4y ago

Isn't wireless charging inherently worse for the battery because of the heat and less efficient?

LinuxBender 4y ago
One would think so but there is no heat and the modern wireless chargers are very efficient. It may be worth watching the video I linked as efficiency methods and differences from typical low power devices are explained. From the video wireless charging is 99% efficient and can scale to hundreds of kilowatts.
- maximus-decimus 4y ago
  99% is still not that amazing in my opinion if you're charging something with as much energy as a car. 1% * 50KWH is 0.5 KWH, so the same as running a 1KW heater for half an hour. According to this website, boiling 1L of water from room temperature is about 0.1KWH, so you could boil 5 litres of water : https://seesustainability.co.uk/blog/f/boiling-water---how-much-energy#:~:text=A%20kettle%20or%20a%20boiling,in%20the%20form%20of%20heat https://seesustainability.co.uk/blog/f/boiling-water---how-m....
  - LinuxBender 4y ago
    99% is the same as the plug-in chargers.
  - clouddrover 4y ago
    Wireless EV charging achieves similar efficiency to wired charging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmIIe9N_aI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmIIe9N_aI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1gaNO9nj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1gaNO9nj0
    - maximus-decimus 4y ago
      Only checked the first link quickly but he both makes then asumption havin the car in sentry mode spend 0 energy and also realizes it spends enough energy to making charging your car slower less efficient than fast charging. The second one is interesting, but I don't find it very convincing since thel say themselves they don't understand the results. They're doing their best, but their testing is just not exactly greatly scientific. They're testing it outside with a whole real car running without controlling for anything like battery temp.

spaceywilly 4y ago

I am surprised companies haven’t a done more with wireless EV charging. Wireless charging almost seems like a necessity for full autonomy, since the car can’t plug and unplug itself, but it could easily be programmed to drive over a charging pad when not in use. As you mention, it is quite efficient. One thing people may not realize is current wired charging requires quite a bit of complex circuitry in the car to convert line voltages to the levels needed to charge the battery. With wireless charging, this transformation can happen at the interface between the two charging pads, so the efficiency is actually quite similar to a wired connection. I wouldn’t be surprised if wireless charging eventually becomes commonplace, but my understanding is the current technology isn’t quite ready yet. It requires the car to be parked precisely over the pad, and isn’t able to charge as fast as current wired charging tech.

rasz 4y ago

Wireless charging is great ... for a toothbrush, but not when you are throwing away tens of kilowatt-hours per day.

LinuxBender 4y ago
The EV charging pads are 99% efficient. These are not at all the same tech as your toothbrush or cell phone.
- TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
  Only if you are aligned correctly. Otherwise it will fall down to 0% with few centimeters misalignment