1st Of Its Kind Wireless EV Charging System Coming To 500 Walnut Residential Tower (Philadelphia)

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The soon-to-be-opened residential luxury apartment tower 500 Walnut, located in Philadelphia, will be home to the first wireless induction charging system for electric vehicles in a residential building in the US, following the beginning of occupancy in early 2017, according to an email sent to CleanTechnica.

To be clear, what this means is that residents will be able to charge their EVs without dealing with any kinds of plugs or cords. So long as you have the relevant hardware installed, all that you have to do is park your car and it will charge.

Developer Scannapieco Development Corporation, in partnership with Westfalia and Plugless, have worked to provide the one-of-a-kind offering as a result of the growth of the luxury electric vehicle (EV) sector — which has been almost entirely driven by Tesla. Notably, a Tesla will be the building’s town car.

In keeping with the developer’s other recent projects, 500 Walnut will make use of an underground automated parking system developed by Westfalia.


 

The press release provides an overview of that system, and the new EV charging addition:

“As residents pull up to the building, an outer door senses a transponder and the driver enters a covered courtyard space with elegant finishes. An interior courtyard door automatically opens leading to one of two parking rooms, where an electronic panel guides the driver to placement on a platform. After engaging the emergency brake, residents exit and swipe a fob, which lowers their vehicle on the platform. As the vehicle descends below, it is automatically parked without any human intervention – no valet or self-parking required. Residents walk through a glass door into the main lobby, gather packages from the concierge, and proceed to the elevator up to their residence.

“To accommodate residents with electric vehicles, Westfalia, the creator of the automated-parking system, partnered with US-based company, Plugless, to bring the adaption which makes the wireless EV charging possible. The Plugless Level 2 EV Charging System is the first wireless electric vehicle charging system in the world.”

As with the Plugless (Evatran) offerings available to regular consumers, for transferring energy through magnetic fields, this system uses a transmitting coil in the parking pad and a receiving coil installed on a simple vehicle adaptor.

“Not only do we implement the latest technology in all of our projects, but we constantly work to identify forward-looking trends and advancements that simplify everyday living for our residents,” stated Tom Scannapieco, President and CEO of Scannapieco Development Corporation. “Given the rising popularity of luxury electric vehicles, we feel this amenity will become ubiquitous in luxury living.”

As far as location goes, as the name (somewhat) implies the new residential tower overlooks Independence National Historic Park. While occupancy will be beginning in early 2017, construction on the project began all the way back in early 2014.


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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