Qualcomm’s Halo Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging technology has been licensed to the firm Ricardo with the intent for the technology to be commercialized, according to recent reports.
The royalty-bearing technology license gives Ricardo the right to tweak/design, manufacture, and supply, Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) systems for automotive manufacturer clients. Support of the technical/engineering type will apparently be provided by Qualcomm subsidiaries.
The CEO of Ricardo, Dave Shemmans, commented: “Wireless charging is a potentially very promising enabler for more widespread adoption of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, with consequent environmental benefits. I am extremely pleased, therefore, that through the agreement announced today, Ricardo is now able to engineer solutions based on Qualcomm Halo technology, as an integral part of our own portfolio of low and zero emission vehicle and transportation technologies.”
Green Car Congress provides more:
Qualcomm Halo uses high-power, resonant magnetic inductive wireless energy transfer and supports a relatively wide air gap between base charging unit (BCU) and vehicle charging unit (VCU). The charging pad’s multi-coil design (“Double “D” Quadrature”) delivers high energy-transfer efficiency and high power — 3.3 kW, 6.6 kW, or 20 kW — even if the pads are misaligned.
The high degree of tolerance in both the vertical (z) and lateral (x,y) planes means drivers do not have to park accurately or need complex and expensive on-board alignment systems. Power is converted to Direct Current (DC) by the on-board controller and used to charge the vehicle’s batteries. Halo multi-coil technology delivers magnetic interoperability across single coil, solenoid & multi-coil vehicle pads and supports various air gaps.
Ricardo is apparently banking on wireless charging technologies enabling the wider/faster adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) than would otherwise be the case — thereby making the technology a winning bet.
I was a fan of this tech until it was pointed out the energy loss, if that is overcome then yes the simplicity for a driver is the winning factor.