Wireless electric car charging: Coming to a Volvo near you?
"Inductive charging has great potential" according to Volvo following its study into wireless charging of electric聽.
The Swedish automaker conducted testing with Flanders' Drive, an automotive technology knowledge center in Belgium and a consortium of other companies, to determine whether wireless charging was practical,聽聽and safe in real-world trials.
Their conclusion? Quite simply, that it聽is聽practical, safe and efficient.
"Cordless technology is a comfortable and effective way to conveniently transfer energy,鈥� said Lennart Stegland, Vice President, Electric Propulsion System at Volvo聽聽Group. The project won't end there though, as Stegland adds, "There is not yet any common standard for inductive charging. We will continue our research and evaluate the feasibility of the technology in our hybrid and electric car project."聽
The research project evaluated inductive charging for both cars--using Volvo's test-bed electric car,聽--as well as buses. Some European routes聽聽to good effect, but the technology is still in its relative infancy.
It proved fairly efficient when charging the Volvos, too--鈥淭he tests demonstrated that our Volvo C30 Electric can be fully charged without a power cable in app. 2.5 hours," said Stegland. Volvo also took the opportunity to further develop slow and regular charging with one of the project's partners, Inverto.
Volvo hasn't yet announced a full-scale production battery-electric vehicle, but continues to sell the聽, which it launched last year. In April, Volvo announced that the car's popularity had led it聽, from an initial 4,000-6,000 estimate.
The V60's low CO2 emissions--48 g/km--and high economy ratings make for an attractive purchase in Europe, where many cities and governments operate greenhouse gas-based tax systems.
