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BMW and Siemens To Start Field Test For Wireless Charging of Batteries

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BMW recently announced the introduction of the BMW i sub-brand, a model line-up to offer mobility solutions for the future. And while the development for the BMW i3 (and BMW i8) continues for the market launch in 2013, there are still some things to consider and some problems to solve to make the idea of electric cars work.

One of these things is charging. Unlike conventional cars with combustion engines, you can't just go the next station and fill up within 5 minutes. A full recharge of an electric car takes quite some time, and that's no option when you're running out of juice during a trip. Siemens and BMW seem to work on a fix, and that's wireless charging.

Sounds crazy? But it isn't. The idea is explained quickly: "The charging station is connected to the public grid by a primary coil that is completely underground. A secondary coil is attached to the car, and the distance between the two coils is typically between eight and 15 centimeters. When the driver starts the charging process, an electric current begins to flow through the primary coil. The resulting magnetic field induces an electric current in the secondary coil, which recharges the battery.

Electricity is transmitted from the grid through all of the components to the battery at an efficiency of more than 90 percent.The magnetic field is generated only in an exactly predetermined area between the two coils. The system therefore generates a magnetic field whose strength in and around the vehicle is far below the internationally recommended limit of 6.25 microteslas."

Inductive charging isn't new you might think, but this is the first time it's actually being tested to charge cars. BMW and Siemens will run a government-funded field test in Berlin this June.

According to Siemens, this type of charging station is virtually invisibly because it's underground and could be implemented into pretty much any setting. One situation would be automatically charging taxis waiting at the cab stand, but there are tons of other possibilites.

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Cable-free Charging of Electric Cars Via Coils

In the future, motorists will no longer need a cable to recharge the batteries of their electric cars, thanks to a development project for inductive charging, which Siemens presented at Hannover Messe 2011. Developed in cooperation with BMW, this noncontact technology also works if drivers only make a short stop to recharge. The associated charging stations can be easily incorporated into practically any setting, making them nearly invisible and effectively protecting them against vandalism and wear and tear. In June 2011, the system’s capabilities will be tested in a project funded by the German Environment Ministry and involving several vehicles in Berlin.

A big obstacle to the expansion of electric mobility is the lack of an extensive and reliable charging infrastructure. Because electric cars have to recharge their batteries more often than vehicles with combustion engines need to refuel, various charging techniques are required that are adapted to the needs of the drivers and vehicles. Siemens’ inductive energy transmission concept would make it possible to automatically recharge vehicles such as taxis waiting at cab stands.

The charging station is connected to the public grid by a primary coil that is completely underground. A secondary coil is attached to the car, and the distance between the two coils is typically between eight and 15 centimeters. When the driver starts the charging process, an electric current begins to flow through the primary coil. The resulting magnetic field induces an electric current in the secondary coil, which recharges the battery. Electricity is transmitted from the grid through all of the components to the battery at an efficiency of more than 90 percent.The magnetic field is generated only in an exactly predetermined area between the two coils. The system therefore generates a magnetic field whose strength in and around the vehicle is far below the internationally recommended limit of 6.25 microteslas.


Starting in May, a prototype with a charging power of 3.6 kilowatts will be tested in an electric vehicle. Beginning in June, the test will be followed by trials in Berlin to determine which improvements are needed to integrate the system into seriesproduced vehicles under real-life conditions and to obtain customer feedback for future customer-oriented charging solutions. The system also enables the smart use of energy, whereby the car also serves as a storage unit and most of the energy is surplus electricity from solar and wind power facilities.

At Hannover Messe, Siemens presented its complete range of electric mobility systems from the Energy (charging stations, smart grid technology) and Industry (electric motors) sectors.

[MRE90M3]

What a shocker haha..
No seriously, electrocution? Frizzy hair? That's what I'm talking about!

[antzcrashing]

don't try this BMW. It is a pipedream.

[InTheNightKitchen]

Interesting but not sure what to think of this...

[Diver]

Weird!

[CSL-Fanatik]

http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes....reless-ev.html

[keanu1]

So bottom line, doesn't matter if it's plug in or wireless , it takes the same time to recharge!! what's the point!! make the perpetum mobile bmw! that's really something!!

[polaxgr]

Nikola Tesla ftw

[antzcrashing]

This would be horribly inefficient. I doubt you could fully charge an electric car in even 14 hours wirelessly.

Does anyone have a wireless charger for cell phone? How long does it take to charge and is it reliable?

[Trojan4evr]

the thing is that the current through the first coil will creat a magnetic field ( the direction of the field is found by the right hand rule). Now if we get another coil(car) close to the primary coil, the magnetic field produced by the first coil will induce a current flow in the second coil. However, one would think that a large amount of current is needed to suffice the distance between the coils which is dangerous.

[Shazmonkee]

You guys need to think about the bigger picture. This is still a "new" old technology for Electric Cars, and for people to be able to charge their car wirelessly, in my opinion, is a vision of people never having to worry about charging their cars. Can you imagine if we had these wireless charging coils throughout our roads? Charging the car may become more efficient, and in turn, it may result in having cars constantly charging even while driving.

I think this is a fantastic and innovative idea. Based on how exponential our growth in technology is, I won't be surprised to see this in my lifetime.

[antzcrashing]

Originally Posted by Shazmonkee

You guys need to think about the bigger picture. This is still a "new" old technology for Electric Cars, and for people to be able to charge their car wirelessly, in my opinion, is a vision of people never having to worry about charging their cars. Can you imagine if we had these wireless charging coils throughout our roads? Charging the car may become more efficient, and in turn, it may result in having cars constantly charging even while driving.

I think this is a fantastic and innovative idea. Based on how exponential our growth in technology is, I won't be surprised to see this in my lifetime.

You idea is flawed because the charging stations have to be stationary, but the cars are moving, not allowing them to sync up in time to transfer any power. Wireless transfer of power is much more challenging than wireless transfer of data - cell phones, and this is the reason many groups that have tried it have produced poor results. Can you imagine the motivation for accomplishing this task - financial jackpot.

I would be tempted to say the Siemens technology is a complete hoax, perhaps a publicity stunt on their and BMW's part, but I will reserve my full judgement until I hear more.

Long before discoveries like this are implemented in industry they are published in academia - and this technology is absent from the literature.

[Shazmonkee]

Originally Posted by antzcrashing

You idea is flawed because the charging stations have to be stationary, but the cars are moving, not allowing them to sync up in time to transfer any power. Wireless transfer of power is much more challenging than wireless transfer of data - cell phones, and this is the reason many groups that have tried it have produced poor results. Can you imagine the motivation for accomplishing this task - financial jackpot.

I would be tempted to say the Siemens technology is a complete hoax, perhaps a publicity stunt on their and BMW's part, but I will reserve my full judgement until I hear more.

Long before discoveries like this are implemented in industry they are published in academia - and this technology is absent from the literature.

Yes, my idea sounds a bit far-fetched, but I think it's a possibility, don't you think? Maybe not within the next say.. 10 years, but beyond that, we can't exactly say where we will be exactly with technology. You have a point that the batteries may not have enough time to sync up and charge, but I think the possibility of charging while moving is not too distant.

I agree though, it does sound somewhat of a publicity stunt, but all we can do is follow and make judgment when the time actually comes.

And by "this technology is absent from the literature". What technology? My thought on dynamic inductive charging or inductive charging in general?

[antzcrashing]

Originally Posted by Shazmonkee

Yes, my idea sounds a bit far-fetched, but I think it's a possibility, don't you think? Maybe not within the next say.. 10 years, but beyond that, we can't exactly say where we will be exactly with technology. You have a point that the batteries may not have enough time to sync up and charge, but I think the possibility of charging while moving is not too distant.

I agree though, it does sound somewhat of a publicity stunt, but all we can do is follow and make judgment when the time actually comes.

And by "this technology is absent from the literature". What technology? My thought on dynamic inductive charging or inductive charging in general?

I agree that your idea is very possible in the future, especially in our lifetimes - and I am glad you didn't take offense to my earlier statement. My comment about tech in the literature is about inductive charging of DC voltages. I agree that some groups have done this with some success - such as MIT, however generating the energy sufficient to charge loads such as a car battery is yet to be demonstrated.

[michal12]

Holy crap. This is awesome.

Well, theretically it could be built into all highways so one would be charging their car continuously..?... Dont know...

EDIT: just saw somebody else had this idea couple of posts above. I would still say stationary charging could evolve into a "while moving" thing.. Lets say similar to MAGLEV train kind of thing.

[Shazmonkee]

Originally Posted by antzcrashing

I agree that your idea is very possible in the future, especially in our lifetimes - and I am glad you didn't take offense to my earlier statement. My comment about tech in the literature is about inductive charging of DC voltages. I agree that some groups have done this with some success - such as MIT, however generating the energy sufficient to charge loads such as a car battery is yet to be demonstrated.

Lol, why should I take offense? Isn't a forum all about discussion?

Anyway, I see what you're saying about findings in literature. I can only agree with your point since I haven't seen any demonstrations on this of a scale with inductive charging. Just going to have to get old and watch what happens

Originally Posted by michal12

Holy crap. This is awesome.

Well, theretically it could be built into all highways so one would be charging their car continuously..?... Dont know...

EDIT: just saw somebody else had this idea couple of posts above. I would still say stationary charging could evolve into a "while moving" thing.. Lets say similar to MAGLEV train kind of thing.

haha maybe. I'm pretty excited for this though. As much as I love how cars are right now, I think this is definitely a good direction in "going green"

[bimmin]

Originally Posted by antzcrashing

This would be horribly inefficient. I doubt you could fully charge an electric car in even 14 hours wirelessly.

Does anyone have a wireless charger for cell phone? How long does it take to charge and is it reliable?

My cell phone has a wireless charger (Palm Pre 2 with touchtone charger). I believe they claim its 10% less efficent. It is very convient though to just set the phone down and it charges and to pick it up and go without ever having to try to plug it in and unplug it. I'm sure it takes longer to charge but its not noticeable (i dont sit there and watch my phone charge). As for reliablity the charger is magnetized so the phone stays in the proper place for charging.

It will be nice when we all drive electric cars to drive them in our garages and have them automatically charge then be able to hop in them and drive them away later with never having to plug them in or unplug them.

[TheDarkone]

can it charge my cell phone on the fly?

[Me_Hi]

Hmmm
I wonder if the small metal particules found on the roads these days will be atracted by this magnetic field?

[kyleb350]

Originally Posted by michal12

Holy crap. This is awesome.

Well, theretically it could be built into all highways so one would be charging their car continuously..?... Dont know...

EDIT: just saw somebody else had this idea couple of posts above. I would still say stationary charging could evolve into a "while moving" thing.. Lets say similar to MAGLEV train kind of thing.

I would think putting this all along a highway would be waaaay to expensive. The only feasible solution I see this happening is if you just had a unit in your garage floor, so when you pull the car in, it starts charging right away. No plugging anything in.

[vase330]

+1, but all this to save the energy it takes to flip a switch???

Any of you guys know how magnetic levitation trains (MAGLEV) work? You know the high speed trains like the French and Germans have? Oh wait, here in the US that might as well be a back to the future type alternate reality.
The budget cutters cut high speed rail electing to curse the US to be left behind in the dust...
Jokes aside, my point is its not such a leap of imagination to see this working quite easily. Only issue I see is just like the MAGLEV with its rails, you need specialized or dedicated road infrastructure. But even worse, the sheer reach that a car requires would mean maybe only in a city for city only cars, otherwise I see no practical economical way to do this. IMO.

[TheDarkone]

Back to the Future was on to something....