Blaine Transue - 09.19.24

Tesla is making the news again, hinting at and filing new patents for home wireless charging, which of course will be a good thing for the industry, but I think it's important to recognize that Tesla is not the first to develop, test or actively use this technology and there are numerous companies like #Witricity, #Delta, #Electreon, #InductEV and #Wiferion, from whom #Tesla acquired at least part of their wireless team, that have been developing and actively implementing wireless charging for several years now.

Due to it’s efficiency, safety and convenience, wireless, in-process, opportunity charging such as that developed by Wiferion is gaining momentum in automated #manufacturing and #intra-logistics and it’s easy to see why, no exposed contacts, no shock hazards, no cables, no tripping hazards, fewer batteries, less weight, no separate charging area or additional AGVs to replace those charging, zero downtime, 100% uptime. And with industry ready protective infrastructure like the #WCPS from #PohlCon and #Jordahl USA, wireless charging can be seamlessly integrated into the process by embedding the charging coils in the ground, flush to the floor, on ground, or even in raised floors like those found in laboratories and clean rooms.

Alongside home wireless charging and wireless charging in places like malls, supermarkets, drive-thrus, movie theaters, parking garages and parking lots, dynamic in-road wireless vehicle charging from companies like Electreon will be powering vehicles in motion. Wireless dynamic charging is a game changer that is already being implemented in Europe and tested in the US and elsewhere and has tremendous implications when it comes to mass EV adoption.

Charging lanes on major roads, freeways and interstates will provide distributed charging while driving and overcharged vehicles will be able to push power back helping to manage power on the grid. It doesn’t take much imagination to appreciate the idea of driving from LA to San Francisco, or Portland for that matter, without having to stop to recharge.

The benefits of wireless charging of EVs are substantial and go way beyond convenience, considerably less lithium use and subsequent waste for example, lighter, smaller, safer, less expensive vehicles, higher ranges, #V2G bi-directional charging, grid power management & stabilization, the end of range anxiety, less "eye" pollution, not to mention the comfort and safety of being able to remain in a locked vehicle at night or not having to exit the vehicle in rain, snow or a thunderstorm to plug in a 250 kW cable.

Just as we will probably never fully move away from fossil fuel, we will likely always need EV plug-in options and in fact, new vehicles should certainly come with both but wireless standards have recently been implemented which will make wireless charging easier to integrate and several auto manufacturers including #Stellantis, #Hyundai and #VW are already developing and testing wireless charging in some of their vehicles, others, like #Ford have partnered with established developers like Witricity where they use the Mustang Mach-E to test and demonstrate their charging platform.

Many of the same benefits, efficiency, safety, convenience, uptime, runtime, cost, size, weight, real estate and grid power management that apply to industrial wireless charging apply to commercial and consumer EV wireless charging as well but for EVs to take hold they need to cost less, have a much smaller carbon footprint and powering them needs to be easier, cleaner and more seamless than gas, period. Once we no longer have to think about charging, we'll wonder why we didn't do it a lot sooner.

Wireless charging at home is just 1 pixel of a very large, picture.