This technology could do that E-Auto– Make driving even more attractive for many.
Industrial giant Siemens has invested 25 million euros to promote wireless charging of electric vehicles. The group used the money to buy shares in the US company WiTricity.
The company from Watertown near Boston specializes in wireless charging technology. It also has technology that can be used to charge e-cars in parking lots without a charging cable.
The technology works via a plate mounted in the floor. This exchanges energy with a receiver coil on the underside of the car via a magnetic field.
Siemens e-mobility wants to offer such charging options itself in the future with a license from Witricity. The group estimates the market volume for wireless charging of electric cars at two billion dollars by 2028 in North America and Europe alone.
Witricity already has projects underway with several car manufacturers. The company’s financiers include Toyota and Mitsubishi.
With wireless charging, there is a risk of large charging losses
So far, a major problem with wireless charging: Significantly more power is consumed than when charging WITH a cable. After all, only part of the energy actually reaches the battery.
This is also known from mobile phones. If a smartphone is charged inductively, according to researchers at the Swiss Research Foundation for Electricity and Mobile Communication (FSM), a maximum of 60 percent of the energy arrives.
The rest is lost in the form of heat. If the phone is not positioned exactly on the charging station, the efficiency even drops to 40 percent.
A similar power loss would be expected when charging cars inductively. The charging cable is in a much better position at 75 percent.
Only on Wednesday evening did the EU Parliament decide: The sale of new cars with internal combustion engines will be banned from 2035.
A majority of MPs voted on Wednesday that manufacturers will only be allowed to market cars and vans that do not emit greenhouse gases from the middle of the next decade.