Wireless vehicle charging is on the way

Charging without wires

With the Hillside Nissan e-NV200 all-electric campervan showing that the concept is possible, the move to electric vehicles is gathering pace. Currently it means charging at home or plugging in to one of the 27,000 charging points around the UK. However, the future involves wireless charging-plates. Qualcomm, the California-based mobile and wireless technology company, has recently invested in Chargemaster, the UK’s largest manufacturer and operator of electric vehicle charging points.

The result will be a speeding up of the production and deployment of Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging technology which will make recharging electric vehicles much quicker and simpler. The Qualcomm Halo WEVC system works by magnetically coupling a base metal charging pad with one in the vehicle. It uses resonant magnetic induction to transfer energy to the vehicle which then charges the battery. The system is very efficient and the base pad can be installed in a garage at home, on a road surface or even below the surface in a marked charging zone.

David Martell, CEO of Chargemaster said, “We are very excited about helping to bring the next major evolution in electric motoring to the market, making the electric driving experience even more enjoyable and practical for daily use.”
Chargemaster intends to install WEVC technology alongside its existing EV charging network and is targeting domestic, public and workplace markets. The company has already installed more than 10,000 wireless-ready public and workplace charging points in the UK and Europe, which can be easily adapted to include the new WEVC systems. Meanwhile, many car manufacturers are planning to incorporate wireless charging into their electric and plug-in hybrid cars as original equipment in the near future, dispensing with the need for cables.

See more about electric charging technology and what it has to offer at Chargemaster, discover the Hillside Nissan e-NV200, or read the review of the first all-electric campervan in the January edition of Which Motorhome.

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