The idea of wireless electric vehicle charging is loved by some and despised by others (who think it’s simply too inefficient), but there’s no debating that various companies are putting their money into growing this market. ELIX Wireless is the latest to announce a new product in this arena.
In a press release published yesterday, ELIX Wireless introduced the E10K Wireless Charging System, which it claims is “the industry’s first wireless charging solution that delivers a full 10kW of wireless power transfer.” 10kW won’t charge your electric car super fast, but who really cares if it’s charging while you’re sleeping or chilling out on your couch. However, getting up to 10kW could be helpful for the times when you’re just parked at home for a few hours before needing to head out again.
“The E10K Wireless Charging System is based on ELIX Wireless’ patented Magneto-Dynamic Coupling (MDC) technology,” the company adds. “To meet the demand for a faster, higher power wireless charging solution that can operate under extreme environmental conditions, ELIX Wireless developed the E10K Wireless Charging System based on its MDC technology. In addition, E10K ‘building blocks’ can be combined together to create even higher power systems.” Sounds enticing.
Even without seeing the price, I’m thinking I’d still go with a Clipper Creek, JuiceBox Green 40, or ChargePoint charger. But ELIX Wireless’s frequent mention of “hazardous” and “hasrh” environments tells me that the company is not just aiming to get the chargers into simple garages. In fact, it writes: “MDC operates at an extremely low frequency (120-140 Hz range); around 1000 times lower than a typical induction based system. Its low electro-magnetic radiation properties make it safe to operate in hazardous environments such as oil & gas, mining, subsea, chemical processing and more. One of MDC’s key benefits is it can automatically remove any foreign objects that may come into the charging zone without human intervention.”
If all of the specs haven’t made your eyes glaze over yet, here are some more details on how the E10K Wireless Charging System, via Green Car Congress (source of the table above as well):
ELIX WPT technology is based on Magneto-Dynamic Coupling (MDC) in which wireless power is transferred via the coupling between a rotating primary (transmitter) magnet and a secondary (receiver) magnet, with the two separated by an air gap. The rotation of the magnet in the transmitting unit causes a second magnet in the receiving unit to rotate in a synchronized manner.
The secondary magnet is typically a permanent magnet, which moves in response to the time-varying torque arising from the interaction of the two magnets. The motion of the secondary magnet induces an alternating electrical current in close-proximity windings. The frequency of the alternating current corresponds to the frequency of the primary magnetic field and is usually in the low 100s of Hz.
In contrast, induction charging is based on two coils separated by an air gap whereby the primary coil (transmitter) directly causes high-frequency electromagnetic induction in the secondary coil (receiver). The high frequency is needed to achieve resonant coupling in a reasonably sized device.
TMI for me, but I know some of you liked this kind of technical detail.
Where is this device placed with respect to your car parked in your garage?
I was wondering the same. I guess on top of the washer and dryer. 😉
Normally it would be placed on the bottom of the vehicle and would park over top of the receiver, similarly to what you’d expect for an Inductive Power Transfer system. The main difference is the form factor; the ELIX system is thicker but has a smaller footprint, so you could put it (for instance) under the bumper or along the centre of the car. It can be placed facing front-back or side-side, depending on where there’s room in the vehicle.
For larger vehicles, though, these systems can be placed in a line and the power stacks linearly with the number of pairs, something that’s more difficult to do with IPT. And in that case you should be able to get at least four of them stacked across the front of a bus delivering 40kW.
Maybe we need the “Tesla” solution to this, get a few thousand cordless toothbrush bases into a pack 😉
Heavy unit. Video on their website shows it in use.
What I have always been confused about is why they don’t design these to lower from the car to the optimal height, so that the transmitter can be embedded in a parking slot etc, out of the way of vandalism. We have motorized everything else on a car.
Bombardier does produce a lowering-type system for some of their Primove inductive products, but the amount of added cost and weight for the hydraulics/mechanics is not trivial. It’s easier for most systems to just deal with the reduction in power/efficiency to transfer across a longer gap.
For something like a bus, though, you can exploit the kneeling/lowering mechanism to do exactly what you are suggesting.