A bright future
Charging EV fleets appears with plugin cables. It is a straightforward solution with restrictions when it comes to comfort and saving time.The most significant hurdle in powering electric fleets like taxis is the charging infrastructure. It cost too much time and effort for operators and taxi drivers to find a charger, plugin and then wait for the car to charge.
With the IPT wireless charging solution for fleets, taxies can easily charge at pickup points where they would be waiting anyhow for new customers. The power transmission will start automatically when a cab positions itself over the charging plate. Besides convenience and time saving is the difference that they won’t be emitting exhaust because the engine is running to keep the taxis warm – or cold in the summer – while waiting.
Instead, they will receive energy to charge the taxi’s battery – including a comfortable climate in the cab.
The challenge
The higher the power that shall be transferred gets, the heavier are the required cables. Handling heavy, dirty cables at rainy weather in not really appealing, and doesn’t feel like the future-proof solution for the electric cars of today. Even worse when you think about the future of electric vehicles, which will autonomously operate. Who will plug and un-plug the vehicles?
The solutions
Wireless inductive charging is widely discussed in the industry. It can be assumed that basically every car manufacturer has already gained experience with wireless charging. Key success factor for the technology are interoperability of systems of different manufacturers. IPT is at the forefront of this development.
Examples
BiPol: 20 kW Charge System tested with Porsche and Smart
InterOp: 3 kW Charge System amongst others tested with Streetscooter, and a further developed system with fork lift trucks
