Volvo completes study of cordless charging for EVs

volvo cordless charging 01

Some news on the inductive charging front. Volvo, working as part of a consortium of companies, has successfully completed a research project on cordless charging for electric cars and buses. The automaker supplied the car for the inductive charging project, which was a Volvo C30 Electric with a power output of 89 kW.

The project, initiated by Flanders’ Drive, the knowledge centre of the automotive industry in the Flanders region in Belgium, studied the possibilities of inductive charging for electric vehicles, and the technology has shown great potential.

Tests demonstrated that the C30 Electric can be fully charged without a power cable in approximately 2.5 hours. With inductive charging, it’s a case of simply positioning the car over a charging device and charging starts automatically.

volvo cordless charging 02

Inductive charging uses an electromagnetic field instead of a cord to transfer energy between two objects. An induction coil creates an alternating electromagnetic field from a charging base station, and a second induction coil in the portable device picks up power from the electromagnetic field and converts it back into an electrical energy, which then charges the battery.

The technology is common in electrical home appliances such as electrical toothbrushes, but isn’t yet commercially available for charging EVs, not is there yet a common standard for inductive charging.

In parallel with the research in inductive charging, Volvo also studied slow and regular charging together with Inverto, which was also a partner in the project, and says that research and evaluation on the feasibility of the technology in its hybrids and EVs will continue.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • 2.5hrs? It is still long way to go. Logically how many people willing to spend that long waiting. I still believe it must be better alternatif such as battery exchange which take few minutes.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 15
    • kadajawi on Oct 29, 2013 at 9:17 pm

      This could be in car parks though, like company car park, or at home, or in front of a restaurant or a shopping mall car park. Though of course people without an electric car would block these car parks (not just in Malaysia… German EV drivers complain too…). Hopefully they will then tow away cars that park where they shouldn’t (I wouldn’t mind if the tow car is basically a Hummer H1 with a bull bar… just ram the offender aside).

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
      • SamShowedMeTheHilux on Oct 30, 2013 at 10:15 am

        Volvo in Malaysia got the worst RV. Buy RM300,000 today, next week you want to sell, Rm180,000 also cannot get.

        Such a good car but terrible RV. Volvo is really a millionaires car. You must be rich to own it and not bother about RV.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 4
  • VW lunatic on Oct 29, 2013 at 2:42 pm

    Volvo is always the pioneer and innovative leader in car safety and user friendly , it is a real disappointment that their cars have never become the main stream , what goes wrong ?
    Design ? Performance ? Appearance ?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 1
    • tokmoh on Oct 29, 2013 at 5:25 pm

      It’s ok to be underrated, makes it more exclusive, and carries a less pretentious image.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 1
    • Roy Mustang on Oct 30, 2013 at 8:22 am

      I’d say appearance is one of the problem.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
  • thepolygon on Oct 29, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    Makes more sense and its more convenient than using a cord only if I am parking to go for a movie / shopping and not worrying about people unplugging the cord half way through the charging process. Also I guess even though more costly than normal plug, this won’t be much of an eyesore in a parking lot / home compound… no more messy wire / tube.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • benzs on Oct 29, 2013 at 3:55 pm

    Just spend a nite time park at home will be enough to recharge. That real tech by volvo, we cant even own 1 in malaysia as our mentality towards hybrid isstill far away. Beside G will abolished tax exemption for hybrid next year. What do we expect EV summore? Tough luck for malaysian.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 3
  • Hmm..my nokia lumia oledi can charging cordlessly what..nothing new meh..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 4
    • Chris on Oct 29, 2013 at 5:25 pm

      Wonder if it’ll charge the Lumia at the same time while it charges the car haha.

      Still waiting for charging table that can charge laptops…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
    • tokmoh on Oct 29, 2013 at 5:28 pm

      Nokia makes car?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 3
  • dun medan on Oct 29, 2013 at 5:23 pm

    wow!..they can do that??

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • fraz006 on Oct 29, 2013 at 5:51 pm

    kucing macamana, ok tido?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
  • Painter on Oct 29, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    Once the juice is all used up, you’re carrying dead weight. That’s among the many disadvantages of EV. A Toyota Hilux would weight 50 kilos lighter when the tank’s running empty.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 3
    • curio on Oct 30, 2013 at 8:27 am

      Or put it in other way, Toyota Hilux is 50kg heavier when filled up fully whereas a Hybrid would just weigh the same..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Jilbaber on Oct 30, 2013 at 7:03 am

    Its gonna be exclusively for Volvo car only ? Other EV car company have to make their own cordless charging parking space ? KL has no more room to park ordinary car let alone cordless charging one..

    more excuse for that ‘makcik’ to rise parking space to RM400 perhour meh..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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