Is this a sign of the future?.......

[Tony]

I hope not

 

[Viking]

That's the basic principle behind a hybrid, except that the generator is built into the car and can be used to charge the batteries on the go. It's usually taken a stage further though and the engine can also be used to power the cars driven wheels.

In the picture above the generator looks to be a fairly simple type and I'm not sure how the cars electrics would cope with such a raw power supply. An inverter generator would be a much better idea as it generates a much better power supply, more suitable for sensitive electrics.

[Tony]

But can you imagine the future of home charging with rows and rows of extension cables plugging the car into the mains

[SMARTLY]

It'll end up cordless like everything else

[Tony]

Can you send electric charge cordless?

[Viking]

Well, the wife bought a cordless charger plate for her Samsung S6 Edge Android phone. Then she asked why she had to plug it in...

[Sagitar]

It generally means no cord between the charger and the device being charged.

 

My electric toothbrush is cordless . . . . 

 

I'm pretty sure that at least one of the Tesla's has a cordless charging option, but I don't know how efficient it is.

[Tony]

Well yes but the base station would have to transfer battery power to the toothbrush... My point is you cannot charge a car without some form of contact with a power point.

[Geoffers]

Wireless charging gaps are now getting quite large. Even cheap stuff household can traverse a good 8-10mm gap. Commercial stuff can go over a meter safely. The principal is exactly the same as a transformer. A coil has an ac voltage through it creating a magnetic field. The receiver coil generates an induced voltage from picking up the magnetic field. While not very efficient at the moment, there is a lot of research going into it. There's only 60-70% efficiency of wireless charging but researchers claim to have it at 90%.

 

It becomes more difficult because you have to take into account metal on or within people. Most medical stuff isn't magnetic but will induce a voltage so it's not as simple as it seems to just up the power. There are resonant techniques that can be used and all sorts of special electronic magic.

 

There is no doubt in my mind there will be wireless charging pads built into car parking spaces soon and not long before standard build on new roads.

 

In the UK we are actually quite keen and the government is even doing some trials of coils built into the road to charge while you are driving. 

 

I guess there would be some clever wireless authentication to allow a chargeable token to switch on/off as you travel but you can guarantee there there will be big business looking into that already. Can you imagine the revenue from a complete lane on a motorway? Between the J14 and 15 on the M25 there's 165,000 vehicles per day just on that small stretch.

 

Of course that means even more tracking of vehicles but that's another can of worms.....

[Geoffers]

The all-electric FIA Formula E Championship has today confirmed that its course cars for the inaugural season will be fitted with Qualcomm Halo™ wireless charging technology – an inductive charging system which allows the car’s battery to be charged without the use of cables.

 

HERE

[Tony]

I think i'm going to need to see this in action to fully understand it.

[Viking]

Tony, think of it like an electric motor (starter motor, or an alternator for example). There's no contact as such but they still induce a current between the part which spins and the part which doesn't. Okay, the old type with the brushes etc. used to need a means of contact to work, but on the newer electric motors I fit and work on there's no contact between the moving parts. Just expand this to charging and you're not far away.

[Tony]

So there's no direct link to the charge and the power travels in thin air.... Is that correct?

[Viking]

Yep.

 

Lightning manages it, but for charging purposes we need a bit more control than that.

[Geoffers]

Magnetism is a fantastic force. You can push and pull metals or other magnets with an air gap in between and we think nothing of this very strange force.

 

Now, one of the other properties of magnetism is if there is a fast changing magnetic field near a coil of wire, it will create a voltage in the wire. The same happens the other way around - push an ac  voltage  through a coil and it produces magnetism (just like the electromagnets n the scrap yard).

 

So.... we create a big magnet by pushing a voltage through a coil (transmitter), then we have the second part (receiver) which is a coil that will have a voltage on it when it's near the magnetic filed.

 

Here's an example of one for your mobile phone. The principal is the same.

 

[Geoffers]

You can also get quite clever using resonant techniques I mentioned earlier so alignment isn't an issue, plus you get a larger gap.

 

There is a good explanation HERE  (it won't let me link to the images)

[Tony]

Good explanations in both posts.... But and yes again but, the transmitter still needs a mains supply so this example just cuts out the middle man. Plus could the transmitter power be stolen?

[SMARTLY]

Not if a car is parked on it Or it's switched off indoors

[Tony]

Parking on it sounds like a good move.

[Geoffers]

Oh yes, it will always need a power supply. Solar isn't enough to charge the car batteries even though there's lots of research into that. Wind obviously creates a resistance (and again uses magnetism)

 

Another method they are experimenting with is permanent magnets within the road This will only work over a certain speed to create the changing field but will at least create some charge and the infrastructure could accommodate that now quite economically fitting magnets. With present receiver technology it isn't a patch on an electronically created one even with the worlds strongest magnets. That introduces other problems with debris sticking to the magnets though. Plus, commercially it doesn't make sense as nobody would make any money so doubtful the cash strapped councils will do anything like that.

 

If the coils are ones you drive over like in a car park, they would be powered down just like with a cord until you put your charge card or credit card in. If they were embedded into the road as you drive, there would have to be some sort of authentication between the car and coil for identification which may switch on as you drive over or simply stay live all the time and only charged when they have an identifier by detector or recognition cameras. Payment will be difficult in that sense and unsure how they would do it. Maybe they will introduce specific lanes, cutting off current usable one now to further boost the incentive for electric vehicles. Charging on the go is definitely a way forward but will only be on large roads.

 

Either way, if I didn't have to plug something in my car when I park I'd be happier. One thing I hate about driving is putting fuel in. 

[Tony]

Reminds me of this...