Volvo tests wireless charging of electric cars in Sweden

While scientists discuss whether wireless charging of electric cars in urban areas is the most sustainable way, Volvo is testing the viability of the technology in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

Using the Volvo VC40 Recharge electric vehicles operated by the taxi company Cabonline, the Swedish manufacturer plans to evaluate the system over the next three years.

Taxis will run for 12 hours a day and will travel about 100,000 kilometers a year.

Vehicles charge electricity at taxi ranks on a charging platform integrated into the roadway. Through it, the energy that is stored in a receiver unit installed in the vehicle is sent.

To easily align the car with the charging pad, cars use a 360-degree camera system. The wireless charging power will be more than 40 kW, so the charging speed will be almost four times faster than with an 11 kW wired AC charger and almost as much as a 50 kW DC fast charger with cable.

Wireless inductive charging has been tested in city buses before, especially in Berlin, the German capital. A pilot project was abandoned after the Berlin public transport company found that the buses of the Polish manufacturer Solaris were unreliable, as fallen leaves from trees and dirt on the road interrupted the flow of current.

The wireless charging test is one of many projects in the so-called Green City Zone (Green City Zone) in Gothenburg, where designated areas of the city are used as test beds for the development of sustainable technologies.

“The Green City Zone in Gothenburg allows us to test exciting new technologies in a real environment and evaluate them over time for possible wider introduction in the future,” said Mats Moberat, Head of Research and Development at Volvo.

“Testing new charging technologies together with selected partners is a good way to evaluate alternative charging options for our future cars,” he said.

dpa