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Google Working On Wireless Charging For Self-Driving Cars (inhabitat.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the ready-set-go dept.

MikeChino writes: New FCC filings suggest that Google is currently installing wireless charging systems for self-driving cars at its headquarters in Mountain View. The documents suggest that the systems will be installed by Hevo Power and Momentum Dynamics. Both companies offer technology that can wirelessly charge an electric car via plates that are embedded in the ground.

12 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. cellphones are bad enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wireless charging is wildly inefficient, in no way is it a better idea to do this than using a plug especially for something as hungry as a car.

    1. Re:cellphones are bad enough by silentcoder · · Score: 2

      You may well be right - but I think the idea is to be able to charge while you drive. Even if it is wildly inefficient and almost certainly can't give you continuous driving (at least no time soon) - it could likely extend the range of an electric vehicle by a good 30% or so, which many people would value. The cost of the infrastructure will be high but since it's value is spread over so many beneficiaries it's cost-per-user is actually quite low.

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      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    2. Re:cellphones are bad enough by bentcd · · Score: 2

      People want electric cars in order to conserve energy, not for themselves but for the environment. So having a very inefficient charger defeats that purpose.

      People are very different. I bought an electric car because it doesn't shake, rattle or stink, it's silent, and when I hit the accelerator it actually accelerates.

      If it's also environmentally friendly, then I'll take that. Nice bonus. It's not my primary motivator however.

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      sigs are hazardous to your health
  2. We've had these for 2 years already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Buses in Milton Keynes (England), have been using this for two years.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25621426

  3. like an electric toothbrush? by quenda · · Score: 2

    Why link to that useless tease at inhabitat?

    Here is TFA: http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-...

    Though it still does not explain why induction might be better than using a conventional dock, especially for an automated car.

    1. Re:like an electric toothbrush? by Firethorn · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Though it still does not explain why induction might be better than using a conventional dock, especially for an automated car.

      Okay, have you seen tesla's automated charge connector? It's like something out of a bad horror movie.

      Still, a list in no particular order:
      More resistant against vandals
      doesn't take up real estate with a charging station
      No need for a person to hook up the charger(or a horror movie snake-thing)
      faster connection
      no need to play with adapters
      no cables to trip over
      ability to embed charger at stop lights, bus stops(for electric buses), taxi stops(for taxis), and such for a 'quick top-off'. Might not matter for a Tesla type car, but for a electric bus? Might be the difference between getting through en entire day and having to swap out the batteries for a bus or taxi.

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      I don't read AC A human right
    2. Re:like an electric toothbrush? by Firethorn · · Score: 2

      Except for the credit card reader, unless everything is going to be free in La-La Land.

      Well, outside of La-La land they can just use wireless billing or subscription services, you know?

      Anyway, people (and entrepreneurs) will still want the adjacent shop to buy their booze and fags when they top up, so a few charging pillars wont make much difference.

      Note how I said buses and taxis. Not vehicles that can be EVs spend that much time in parking lots. Also, on road charging.

      Though as batteries keep getting cheaper such ideas become financially less feasible compared to just adding more batteries.

      although as I said even a hard connection could be automated.

      As I mentioned as well, remember Tesla's automated charger?

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      I don't read AC A human right
  4. "working on" or let other install? by sittingnut · · Score: 2

    seems it is other companies that are "working on" the technology of wireless charging. and there is no particular technological breakthrough to warrant a story.
    google is just using it, as does others.

  5. Re:Gee, the Roger Rabbit electric bus revisited by silentcoder · · Score: 4, Informative

    So you're example of a past attempt is from circa 1989 ? You do realize that practically every piece of technology in the tool-chain up to and including the batteries (and their charge times) have gotten orders better in the decades since then ? That's like saying "New horizons was an impossible mission because when we launched Apollo 11 it could barely make it to the moon and back".

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  6. You mean like the buses in Italy? by grungeman · · Score: 2

    Google should send some of their engineers to Italy. They have been doing this for more than ten years with buses in Turin and Genoa. Seems to work. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.co...

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  7. inductive charging efficiency by Firethorn · · Score: 3, Informative

    At the scale they're doing induction charging, it's actually quite efficient. Part of it is that you don't need a separate transformer to get the voltage to the right level for the car. You're only loosing a percent or so for the systems they're examining.

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    I don't read AC A human right
  8. Hey, didn't you know? by Viol8 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Something hasn't been invented until someone in america re-invents it and pretends its an original and unique idea worthy of a patent at the not-at-all-partisan US Patent Office.