Entering the electric era: will EV charging really go wireless?

It might sound like science fiction, but like wireless mobile phone chargers becoming widespread, the technology is now in development for electric vehicles too.

HERE360 takes a look at the burgeoning new tech, as well as the remaining challenges before the idea can fully take off. 

Power transfer

Wireless EV charging is otherwise known as "inductive charging". The tech works via electromagnetic induction, charging a battery instead of a traditional plugged cable. The technology is in its infancy, but many companies are looking into it as a feasible long-term solution. 

There are two options when it comes to inductive charging: "static" wireless charging via a charging pad that a car can park on top of, similar to that of a wireless mobile phone charger. The second, loftier and much more futuristic-sounding idea is that of "dynamic" wireless charging, with the idea being that roads can be built that charge cars as they drive over them.

Both ideas might sound ambitious, but many automakers have been plowing funds into investing in wireless charging over the last few years, including BMW and Hyundai. BMW announced a wireless charging pad pilot project in 2018 for owners of the 530e model, that could charge the car within three hours.

The initiative was put on hold, but others are now cropping up.

In the UK city of Nottingham, a project called the Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis (WiCET) has been given US$50 million (£40 million) of funding by the government’s Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles. It’s looking into how electric taxis in the area can be charged wirelessly by “assessing [its] commercial and technical viability”.

Tom Bloor is the Managing Director of evec, a UK company that specializes in providing affordable EV charging solutions to help break down cost barriers around EVs and make them more accessible to the wider market. 

Bloor explained that with the UK government banning combustion engines by 2030, there’ll be a surge in developments around EVs in the next few years, including wireless charging mats.

He told HERE360: “I strongly believe that EV wireless chargers in the form of charging mats will be widely available in the next five to six years. With major players in the industry in the test and development stage with this kind of technology, the game will really change in the not-too-distant future.”

Bloor added that there are some additional benefits to the wireless charging mats, aside from the aesthetic benefits of fewer wires - there will also be fewer trip hazards. “I can imagine that mailmen and Amazon delivery drivers the world over will be rejoicing when there are fewer wires in the way of their delivery routes in the streets.”

Electric avenues

But what about the pioneering concept of self-charging roads? Surprisingly, the idea has been around since the 1980s when the University of California first built a working prototype, and since then, many other companies have tried to get the idea off the ground without success. 

BBC Future reported that over in Detroit, the original home of the American automotive industry, these roads are finally becoming a reality. On the city’s 14th Street, in Corktown, a quarter-mile section of the road has had electromagnetic cables laid underneath that allow inductive charging to take place when EVs drive over it by a company called Electreon. 

The company has been semi-funded to the tune of US$1.9 million by the University of Michigan as the state aims to become carbon-neutral by 2050. The downside? The high-tech roads come at a price. The roads cost US$2 million per mile - which means they’d be prohibitively expensive to install at scale, with a Scientific Reports journal article stating that one mile of charging road will cost more than an EV charging station.

Bloor explained that where these kinds of roads could work best if they were installed in smaller sections, so that EVs can top-up their existing charge as they drive over them. “If you knew a mile of road was coming up where you could boost your battery, that’d be very useful,” he said. “But I think another big question around how realistic these charging roads are, aside from the astronomical installation costs, is how exactly they’d be powered. It would take a huge amount of electricity to power them at scale - and that’s something that’s got to be seriously thought about before they’re a viable option."

With the technology still in its infancy, it seems we’ll have to wait a while until it becomes commonplace - and it’s much more likely that we’ll see wireless charging mats rather than charging roads. But one thing’s for sure: when it comes to EVs, the future is certainly wireless.