Wireless EV charging nears plug-in efficiency levels
The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is currently demonstrating that high levels of efficiency can be achieved with wireless EV chargers. The lab is currently running a 20kW charger at 90 percent efficiency. That's enough juice to provide about 60 miles of charge in an hour or two.
This is mostly a proof of concept, not quite ready for the market just yet. That said, ORNL's planning on developing a 50kW wireless charger next, which would provide charging speeds on par with some of the fastest plug-in offerings. When that point is reached, and costs are low enough to jive with buyers, that's when we can expect to see a real push to introduce wireless charging on a wide scale.
ORNL also sees wireless charging as an important step in introducing full-on autonomous vehicles. If the cars can drive around and charge without human intervention, then you'd start seeing the materialization of this driving-free utopia that some are keen to introduce as soon as possible.
Of course, it takes special equipment to charge an EV wirelessly. Right now, there are no manufacturer solutions for wireless charging, although there are aftermarket retrofit kits available. But unless you're not traveling far and charging every single night, it's still not ready for prime time.
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