Comments on: Smooth Sailing For Evatran’s Wireless EV Charging Demo

By: Jeff May

Jeff May — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 23:37:00 +0000

You need to learn how to read technical statements from people trying to sell you a product.

“The Plugless Power technology *has achieved* over 90% efficiency.” Notice the passive past tense. This comment is careful to promise absolutely nothing for future performance.

In other words, in the real world it will get less than 90% efficiency. And since they won’t be up-front and tell us the actual efficiency that it WILL get, it makes me suspect it will be quite a bit below 90%.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 23:08:00 +0000

1. Absolutely. The ease of ‘park and charge’ is likely to be a big selling feature that moves some people to EVs because it lets them avoid gas stations.

2. IIRC the exact positioning is not critical. But to the extent that it is, it wouldn’t take much to install a “left front tire guide” that gets glued to the parking space and funnels your tire into the right spot with a stop-bump at the end.

3. People are working on it. I believe there is a research program ongoing at Standford among other places.

Wireless charging does waste a bit of electricity. Something less than 10%. But I don’t think that’s a big deal.

Users will pay for the extra electricity. Those additional sales will bring more money to install more solar panels and wind turbines. It’s not like sunshine and wind are limited in any practical sense.

But the important thing is that wireless charging is likely to get people to switch from fossil fuels to electricity faster. Wasting a bit of electricity to get rid of a lot of fossil fuel is a bargain we can live with.

By: Wayne Williamson

Wayne Williamson — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 22:43:00 +0000

Just a couple of thoughts on this.
1. It would really simplify charging your vehicle.
2. Again standards are very important. I’m assuming that the charger and the car talk to each other. The car needs to tell you or move its self the last few feet to get the best alignment/most efficient coupling.
3. This could probably be used to power the vehicle while in motion…

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 19:20:00 +0000

You had your bloomers in a bunch over potential 15% to 30% loses. And you stated that if the loses were over 10% then “then they really have to build the automatic latching system”.

It’s less than 10%. Relax. Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.

By: Marion Meads

Marion Meads — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 16:34:00 +0000

Well, 90.000000000001% efficiency is over 90% efficiency. I hope they can show real average efficiency data, not only the best optimal charging efficiency they have ever recorded.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:16:00 +0000

“The Plugless Power technology has achieved over 90% efficiency as
measured from your home’s 208/240V electrical outlet to your vehicle’s
existing on-board battery charger.”

http://www.pluglesspower.com/questions-answers/technical-specifications/efficiency/

By: Marion Meads

Marion Meads — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 14:02:00 +0000

I was hoping to get some info about the charging efficiency using the wireless induction system in this article. That is one of the most important things to know. The larger the gap, the poorer the efficiency. In toothbrushes, the plates are literally next to each other. If the efficiency is poor, with the wide gaps, then you have to close the gap. The charging plate would be able to sense the parked EV and then it will automatically latch itself after the car is powered down after parking. And when the car is activated, it will automatically unlatch itself. This way, the losses are minimized. An additional 15-30% loss on the efficiency from wireless charging is very bad for EV technology, it increases the load on the grid, and increases the cost per EV mile.