Wireless EV charging: Ready for prime time

By Pamposh Zutshi, Vice President, Product, WiTricity

A story from Automotive News last week highlights the growing importance of wireless EV charging. It addressed the state of wireless charging and WiTricity's pioneering role in commercializing the technology for both passenger and commercial EVs. If you don't have a subscription to Automotive News, and are looking for an update, here goes . . .

After years of development, dramatic improvements in efficiency, speed, and cost-effectiveness, wireless charging will become a key part of EV infrastructure at a time when it's needed most.

From Innovation to Everyday Use: Wireless charging simplifies EV ownership. Just park in a spot equipped with a ground-based charging pad and within seconds, energy is transferred over the air gap to a receiving pad on the vehicle's undercarriage. Charging is fast and requires no mechanical contact or human intervention.

Standards Ensure Compatibility: One of the most significant advancements in wireless charging is the adoption of SAE's J2954 standard, an enabler that WiTricity played a significant role in developing. J2954 ensures that wireless chargers will work universally with compliant vehicles, eliminating the confusion and frustration of varied plug-in systems. As the Automotive News article states, Tesla, Hyundai, and Volkswagen have wireless efforts underway.

Benefits for Fleet Operators: Wireless charging offers even greater benefits for fleets. Park-and-charge automation ensures vehicles are always ready to go. The charging station's small footprint makes deploying a commercial EV easier in existing depot spaces, allowing fleet operators to more easily achieve their zero-emission goals more easily.

Improved Reliability: Plug-in chargers often fail. In a recent study of 20,000 chargers, the actual uptime was only 73.7 percent. [1] With WiTricity's wireless charging systems, no moving parts and fully automated, means power is delivered more reliably and has lower impact on the daily operations when compared to transitioning to legacy plug-in charging systems.

No Forgetting and Less Worrying: Forgetting to plug in, believe it or not, is a common complaint among EV owners. Wireless charging eliminates this issue entirely, which is an excellent solution for busy people. Wireless can be critical to electrification success, even more so for fleet operators, whose reputation and revenue depend on commercial EVs that are always ready to go.

Autonomous = Wireless: A vehicle cannot be autonomous if someone has to plug it in. With wireless charging, an autonomous truck, bus, or car simply pulls over a surface-mounted charging pad and charging begins automatically. No human involvement required. We’ve made wireless and autonomous happen with an electric bus in China, and more projects will be underway soon.

Instant Grid Connectivity with Wireless V2G: One significant advantage of wireless charging for V2G applications is that vehicles are instantly available to the grid as soon as they park over the charging pad. Unlike plug-in chargers, which require drivers to connect their vehicles manually, wireless systems automatically enable bidirectional energy flow. This instant availability maximizes the potential for EVs to feed power back to the grid, offering a more efficient and hands-free solution to support energy demand management and grid stabilization.

So, when will you see the widespread adoption of wireless charging? As I said in the article, "Whenever there is a technology transition, you have the old technology. Then you have an overlap period with the old and the new."

That overlap is just beginning, and we're excited to be out in front.

[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/6/24214581/electric-vehicle-charging-reliability-study-chargehelp