Tesla Would Be Proud: Wireless Charging For Electric Cars Gets Closer To Reality

curtwoodward writes "For some reason, we're still plugging in electric-powered devices like a bunch of savages. But technology developed at MIT could soon make that a thing of the past, at least for hybrid cars. A small Boston-area company, WiTricity, is a key part of Toyota's growing experiment with wireless charging tech---something the world's largest car maker says it will start seriously testing in the U.S., Japan and Europe next year. The system works by converting AC to a higher frequency and voltage and sending it to a receiver that resonates at the same frequency, making it possible to transfer the power safely via magnetic field. Intel and Foxconn are also investors, and you might see them license the tech soon as well."

Comments

Efficient?

[Mr D from 63]

Whether or not it catches on will depend mostly on efficiency. If the losses are minimal, it makes sense to eliminate mechanical connections.

Re:Efficient?

[internerdj]

Just don't plug it in at your kid's tennis match.

Re:Efficient?

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering the price of energy and the whole economic crisis, a lot of people would probably rather plug in manually if the losses are any more than a couple of percent. Even 1% would probably put a lot of people off if they were aware of it.

Millions of people still insist on using incandescent light bulbs. Do you think the majority would give a damn about 1%?

Re:I would like to turn my nerd card in

[goombah99]

Moreover, none of the nerds here have noticed yet that Tesla would not be proud of this. He was trying to do wireless power across nations and oceans not inductive coupling at short range. Magnetic coupling falls off at very short range compared to propagating waves.