Sounds too good to be true. The Holy Grail of electric vehicles (EVs).
Charging without having to drag out the cable and plug in the car. Charging without even having to get out of the vehicle.
Just as you can charge your mobile phone on a wireless charge pad, Volvo is testing the same technology with EVs in its home town of Gothenburg in Sweden.
The charging stations used in the test have been developed by Momentum Dynamics, a leading provider of wireless electric charging systems.
Charging starts automatically when a compatible vehicle parks over a charging pad embedded in the street, allowing drivers to conveniently charge without getting out of their car.
The charging station sends energy through the charging pad, which is picked up by a receiver unit in the car.
To easily align the car with the charging pad, Volvo will use a 360-degree camera system.
Over a three-year period, a small fleet of fully electric Volvo XC40 Recharge SUVs will be used as taxis by Cabonline, the largest taxi operator in the Nordic region, and charged wirelessly at stations in Gothenburg.
The wireless charging test is one of many projects outlined within the strategic initiative Gothenburg Green City Zone, under which designated areas within the city are used as live testbeds for the development of sustainable technologies.
Wireless charging power will be more than 40kW, delivering charging speeds around four times faster than a wired 11kW AC charger and almost as fast as a wired 50kW DC fast charger.
In total, the XC40s will be used for more than 12 hours a day and travel 100,000km per year, which also makes this the first durability test of fully electric Volvo cars in a commercial scenario.
Other partners involved in the wireless charging project include the company’s own Swedish retailers Volvo Bil and Volvo Car Sörred, as well as Swedish energy company Vattenfall and its charging network InCharge, the city energy company Göteborg Energi and Business Region Gothenburg — a municipal economic development agency owned by the City of Gothenburg.
Last year, Volvo took part in launching the Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative, which aims to achieve emission-free transport by 2030.
Using a real city as a testing ground will enable the company to accelerate development of technologies and services in the areas of electrification, shared mobility, autonomous driving, connectivity and safety.
“Gothenburg Green City Zone lets us try exciting new technologies in a real environment and evaluate them over time for a potential future broader introduction,” Head of Research and Development at Volvo Cars, Mats Moberg, said.
“Testing new charging technologies together with selected partners is a good way to evaluate alternative charging options for our future cars.”
CHECKOUT: Hook up for wireless charging
CHECKOUT: This will put the wind up EVs