Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have achieved wireless electric vehicle charging at 270 kilowatts, a record according to the researchers, and a development that could be a game-changer. The wireless charger, tested on a Porsche Taycan, charged at 95% efficiency and charged 50% in only 10 minutes, as Green Car Reports detailed.
The vast majority of EVs on the road need to be plugged in to charge using heavy cables. These charging stations take up space, and, unfortunately, it's not uncommon for them to be vandalized and the cables stolen, possibly for the copper in the cables.
Wireless charging will just be more convenient. The vision is that an EV driver will simply have to park over a charger, walk away, and return to a charged vehicle.
This is a big step forward in just a matter of months. In March, ORNL charged an EV with 100 kW with 96% efficiency, increasing the charge by 50% in 20 minutes. ORNL first began testing its patented coil used for wireless charging in 2018.
Wireless charging is just another development that could sway some consumers toward making their next car an EV. That would reduce the number of vehicles on the road that depend on dirty energy to run, which increases carbon pollution that contributes to the overheating of the planet.
Wireless charging could eliminate some of the reasons some people might still be holding out. The charging boxes are much smaller than the bulky charging stations in existence, and instead of a cable, there is simply a pad on the floor. The relatively quick charging time doesn't hurt either.
Wireless charging is also described as safe. Energy flows from the pad to the EV through a magnetic field that operates at a lower radio frequency than the ones we live with every day, as PC Magazine reported.
"You can drive over [the pad], or walk over it, or your cat can walk over it safely even if it's charging," said Amy Barzdukas, chief marketing officer at WiTricity, a Massachusetts-based company that has also developed wireless EV charging technology, per the magazine.
ORNL is still working toward getting the technology ready for production, but there is no timeline for when it will be consumer-ready, per Green Car Reports.
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