By applying statistical geometry to analyzing urban road networks, KAUST researchers have advanced understanding of how wireless charging roads might influence driver behavior and city planning in a future where electric vehicles (EVs) dominate the car market. (Stochastic geometry is a branch of applied probability particularly adapted to the study... Read more →

Ideanomics signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of privately held Wireless Advanced Vehicle Electrification, Inc. (WAVE) for cash and stock consideration. Founded in 2011, and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, WAVE is a provider of inductive (wireless) charging solutions for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles (EVs). Embedded in... Read more →

WiTricity, the industry pioneer in efficient wireless power transfer over distance, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Momentum Dynamics, a Pennsylvania-based company developing wireless charging systems for the automotive and transportation industries. The lawsuit seeks recovery of financial damages and an injunction to halt the sales of Momentum Dynamics... Read more →

Wireless power transfer pioner WiTricity closed a $34-million investment round. Stage 1 Ventures led the round with participation from Air Waves Wireless Electricity and a strategic investment by Mitsubishi Corporation through its US subsidiary, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas). The infusion of capital will enable WiTricity to continue its leading-edge wireless power... Read more →

SAE International has published the first global standard that specifies, in a single document, both the electric vehicle and supply equipment (EVSE) ground-system requirements for wireless charging of electric vehicles (EV). The new standard, SAE J2954, helps pave the way for charging without the need for plugging in—widely considered to... Read more →

Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, in partnership with ElectReon and Dan Bus Company, has launched a pilot project to install wireless electric roads for charging public transportation in the city. The pilot, the first of its kind in Israel, will be carried out between Tel Aviv University Railway Station and Klatzkin Terminal... Read more →

Link Transit of Wenatchee, Washington has achieved 50 megawatt-hours of energy delivered wirelessly to its electric bus fleet. Link Transit is the first electric bus operator in the Americas to reach this technology milestone, and the first in the world to do so in under two years. The wireless charging... Read more →

The China Electricity Council (CEC) recently ratified and published a set of national standards (“GuoBiao” or GB standard) for the wireless charging of EVs; WiTricity’s patented technology is incorporated in the standards. The new standards are: GB / T 38775.1 “Wireless Charging System for Electric Vehicles Part 1: General Requirements”... Read more →

WiTricity’s technology for wireless power transfer over distance was central to a next-generation electric mobility demonstration in Osaka, Japan, led by DAIHEN Corporation, a global leader in electric power transmission. Partners since 2016, DAIHEN licensed WiTricity’s technology to commercialize wireless charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) and for automatic guided... Read more →

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in late February demonstrated a 20-kilowatt bi-directional wireless charging system installed on a UPS medium-duty, plug-in hybrid electric delivery truck. The project is the first of its kind to achieve power transfer at this rate across an 11-inch air... Read more →

Momentum Dynamics Corporation, a developer of high-power wireless charging for electric vehicles, and CEVT, an innovation company for Zhejiang Geely Holding Group based in Sweden, have demonstrated high-power wireless charging on a passenger vehicle with autonomous parking. This demonstration highlights autonomous parking combined with high-power autonomous charging in a commercially-available... Read more →

ElectReon has successfully wirelessly charged a fully electric 40-ton truck and trailer at a test facility in Sweden. The next step will be to charge the truck through dynamic wireless power transfer on a public road in Gotland, Sweden. The Smartroad Gotland project is the first wireless electric road system... Read more →

WiTricity, a pioneer in wireless power transfer over distance, has entered into licensing and technology transfer agreements with Green Power, a leading South Korea-based supplier of power electronics and high power wireless charging systems for various applications. The agreements allow Green Power to leverage WiTricity’s innovative technology and reference designs... Read more →

BMW is bringing BMW’s global Induction Charging Pilot Program to the US. The pilot program began in Germany in 2018. The pilot program is available in the state of California for 200 interested, qualifying residential home customers who are able to charge inside an enclosed garage space. Availability is based... Read more →

Momentum Dynamics Corporation, the global leader in high-power wireless charging for electric vehicles, in partnership with BYD and IndyGo, will install three 300-kilowatt inductive charging points in Indianapolis, the highest capacity system of its kind implemented anywhere in the world. With the high-power system in place, IndyGo will be positioned... Read more →

WiTricity is working with Furukawa Electric to test an advanced wireless charging system prototype for electric vehicles (EVs) that uses Furukawa’s latest technologies. The companies are working together to test WiTricity’s DRIVE 11 park-and-charge system, designed for maximum efficiency and interoperability across vehicle platforms with materials and components developed by... Read more →

WiTricity, the industry pioneer in wireless power transfer over distance, has entered into a technology licensing agreement with Yura Corporation, a leading South Korea-based automotive Tier 1 supplier. Yura is a global supplier of a wide range of automotive parts for conventional vehicles and xEVs. The agreement will allow Yura... Read more →

WiTricity, the industry pioneer in wireless power transfer (WPT), has acquired from Qualcomm Incorporated and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. certain technology platform and IP assets, which will bring more than 1,500 patents and patent applications related to wireless charging that WiTricity will own or control. Through the transaction, Qualcomm Incorporated will... Read more →

At CES 2019 in January, Honda will debut its Wireless Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) system, co-developed with WiTricity—a bi-directional energy management system that has the potential to reduce CO2 and create new value for customers. Honda’s V2G solution leverages WiTricity’s DRIVE 11 wireless charging platform, which creates a seamless and efficient two-way... Read more →

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have demonstrated a 120-kilowatt wireless charging system for vehicles—providing six times the power of previous ORNL technology and a big step toward charging times that rival the speed and convenience of a gasoline station fill-up. The wireless system transfers... Read more →

WiTricity announced an intellectual property licensing agreement with Anjie Wireless, a China-based automotive Tier 1 supplier. Under the terms of the agreement, Anjie Wireless will license WiTricity’s patented magnetic resonance technology and industry-leading designs to develop and commercialize highly efficient wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging systems for sale to leading... Read more →

Continental is offering end-to-end cyber security and over-the-air software update solutions from Argus Cyber Security (Argus) and Elektrobit (EB) pre-integrated into its connected vehicle electronics products including telematics units, infotainment systems, gateways and more. More than 60 million connected vehicles will be sold worldwide per year by 2021. Automobile connectivity... Read more →

Momentum Dynamics Corporation has commissioned a 200-kilowatt wireless charging system to support electric transit buses in Chattanooga, TN. The system—its second in the US (earlier post)—is installed inside the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) Shuttle Park and automatically charges while loading and unloading passengers. The Momentum charging system is... Read more →

BMW i is introducing a factory-fitted, fully integrated inductive charging facility for the high-voltage battery in a plug-in hybrid vehicle. Production will start in July. The BMW Wireless Charging option can be ordered now as a leasing-option for the BMW 530e iPerformance (fuel consumption in legislative EU test-cycle combined: 2.3... Read more →

Momentum Dynamics has commissioned the US’ first 200 kW wireless charging system for a battery-electric transit bus fleet. The wireless charging system is now operational on a BYD K9S bus at Link Transit in Wenatchee, Washington. Within five minutes, the wireless charging system automatically adds enough energy to the vehicle’s... Read more →

Tokyo Tech and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. have developed a CMOS wireless transceiver chip that can process signals at high speeds across a broad range of frequencies, from 70 to 105 gigahertz (GHz), using their own bandwidth-increasing technology. With these developments, they succeeded in achieving wireless transmission speeds of 120 gigabits... Read more →

SAE International published SAE J2954 Recommended Practice (RP), providing the first worldwide specification for wireless power transfer (WPT) for electric vehicles up to 11 kW power levels (WPT 3). Following the previous Technical Information Report J2954, with power levels up to WPT 2 (7.7 kW), 11 kW wireless charging is... Read more →

>DAIHEN Corporation, a global leader in electric power transmission, distribution products and industrial robotics, has secured a license to commercialize wireless charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) utilizing WiTricity’s patented technology. DAIHEN began shipments of wireless charging systems for industrial materials handling in 2016 after entering into a licensing and... Read more →

Conference presentations at the 4th International Electric Vehicle Expo this week in Jeju, South Korea, explored issues related to automated driving systems, electric vehicles and infrastructure. Specifically, two presentations from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) and SAE International addressed the interdependence of standardization, autonomous electric vehicles and... Read more →

Toshiba Corporation announced the results of year-long field tests of electric buses charged with its wireless rapid rechargeable battery system. (Earlier post.) The tests, carried out with the cooperation of Waseda University, showed that using the buses to replace standard diesel buses could cut CO2 emissions from daily operation by... Read more →

Bentley Motors unveiled the EXP 12 Speed 6e concept at the 2017 Geneva International Motor Show. The role of the EXP 12 Speed 6e concept is to gauge public and customer feedback to shape Bentley’s future luxury strategy. Bentley said that an all-electric Bentley will not compromise the quality, refinement... Read more →

At the SAE 2017 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies Symposium last week, an overview of the plans for testing to validate power levels up to WPT 3, (11kW) for SAE J2954TM were shown along with a preview of the technology to be standardized in the upcoming Recommended Practice. (Earlier post.)... Read more →

SAE International is working to ensure that electric vehicle wireless power transfer systems from diverse manufacturers will interoperate seamlessly with each other to prepare for commercialization in 2020. The SAE TIR (Technical Information Report) J2954 provides guidance to ensure performance and safety of Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) Systems provided from... Read more →

WiTricity is collaborating with Nissan to further the adoption of wireless EV charging systems. Both companies are participating in the SAE International J2954 standardization effort for wireless power transfer. (Earlier post.) The two companies collaborated to submit a joint design system (built using WiTricity’s DRIVE system) to the task force;... Read more →

At a standards meeting held in January at Audi AG in Ingolstadt, Germany, carmakers, Tier 1 suppliers, and technology providers from around the world reached agreement on key technical and procedural elements of the upcoming SAE Recommended Practice (RP) Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) and automated parking alignment and charging of... Read more →

On 6 February, the Center for Sustainable Energy in San Diego in California will be hosting a workshop for SAE J2954 (Wireless Power Transfer and Automated Charging and Alignment) with the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and California Energy Commission (CARB-CEC) related to wireless power transfer technology status and testing... Read more →

SAE International is working to ensure that electric vehicle wireless power transfer systems from different manufacturers can interoperate seamlessly with each other to prepare for commercialization in 2020. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and TDK R&D Corporation, along with the US Department of Energy (DOE), automotive companies and suppliers have completed... Read more →

Wireless power transfer company WiTricity announced Tunable Matching Network (TMN) technology, which allows the wireless charging system automatically to optimize energy transfer between the ground and vehicle in a wide range of real-world operating conditions including parking misalignment, differing vehicle ground clearance and varying battery voltage conditions. This flexibility enables... Read more →

Qualcomm Incorporated and Preh, GmbH, part of the Joyson Electronics Group, have entered into a Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) license agreement. Preh will include Qualcomm Halo WEVC technology in its product portfolio and will focus on commercializing WEVC systems for Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) and Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Based... Read more →

Scientists at Imperial College London have demonstrated a highly efficient inductive method for wirelessly transferring power to a drone while it is flying. Theoretically, this wireless power transfer (WPT) technology could allow flying drones to stay airborne indefinitely by simply hovering over a ground support vehicle to recharge. The team... Read more →

In a program track on Charging Infrastructure at the World of Energy Solutions Conference in Stuttgart, Germany this week, Jesse Schneider (BMW), SAE Taskforce Chair, Wireless Power Transfer and Alignment Methodology, presented the recently published SAE TIR, Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) for Light-Duty Plug-In/ Electric Vehicles and Alignment Methodology (earlier... Read more →

ELIX Wireless, a Canada-based startup developing novel wireless power transfer technology, signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Chongqing Zongshen Power Machinery Co Ltd, a listed entity of the Zongshen Group. Zongshen Power also acted as the lead investor in ELIX’s US$5-million Series A funding round. ELIX began as a spin-out... Read more →

Wireless power transfer company WiTricity is collaborating with Prodrive Technologies, a Tier-1 supplier of power electronics and sensors, to design a high-performance 11 kW wireless charging system. The two companies were selected to design the system by a leading European carmaker that plans to release its first wirelessly-charged vehicles in... Read more →

The National Science Foundation (NSF) will invest more than $400 million over the next seven years to support fundamental wireless research and to develop platforms for advanced wireless research in support of the White House’s Advanced Wireless Research Initiative. These investments will support the research community in experimenting with and... Read more →

SAE International approved for publishing “SAE TIR J2954 Wireless Power Transfer for Light-Duty Plug-In/ Electric Vehicles and Alignment Methodology,” a milestone industry guideline to establish wireless power transfer between infrastructure, vehicle suppliers and OEMs for plug-in electric and electric vehicles (PH/EV). (Earlier post.) The document will be available from the... Read more →

Ricardo has licensed Qualcomm Halo Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) technology to commercialize WEVC systems for Plug-In Hybrid (PHEVs) and Electric Vehicles (EVs). (Earlier post.) Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm has granted to Ricardo a royalty-bearing technology license to develop, make and supply WEVC systems for automobile manufacturers.... Read more →

A 20-kilowatt wireless charging system demonstrated at Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has achieved 90 percent efficiency and at three times the rate of the plug-in systems commonly used for electric vehicles today. ORNL’s power electronics team achieved this world’s first 20 kW wireless charging system for passenger... Read more →

A research demonstration unveiled at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DOE ORNL) combines clean energy technologies into a 3D-printed building and a 3D-printed natural gas-powered hybrid vehicle to showcase a new approach to energy use, storage and consumption. The Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) demonstration, displayed at... Read more →

BRUSA Elektronik AG, an automotive Tier 1 power electronics supplier, has licensed Qualcomm Incorporated’s Halo (earlier post) patented inventions to commercialize Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) systems for Plug-In Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (EVs). Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm granted to BRUSA a royalty-bearing patent license to develop,... Read more →

Researchers at North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University have shown that passing wireless power transfer through a magnetic resonance field enhancer (MR-FE)—which could be as simple as a copper loop—can at least double transfer efficiency as compared to transferring through air alone. MR-FE use could potentially boost transfer... Read more →