The future of Electric Car Charging

One company is looking to the future of electric car charging with intelligent cars and wireless electricity to ensure electric cars always have enough range to do any journey at all and never have to be plugged in to recharge.

ARUP

Design and engineering company ARUP are at the forefront of electric vehicle infrastructure design, working closely with governments around the world to build the infrastructure for an electric car future.

They are developing an Induction Power Transfer (IPT) system that charges electric cars wirelessly using charging points built into the road or fitted in electric car owner's garages and driveways. The system has no moving parts and can work effectively across a large gap of up to 25cm (10").

The system works using two pads - one built into the road surface sending electricity to the car; and one on the car, receiving the energy and charging the batteries.

The first benefit of the system is that electric car owners don't have to remember to plug their cars. Instead the car starts charging as soon as it is parked.

"IPT charging is intelligent," explains Dick Stimpson, Principal Engineer for Future Transportation. "An intelligent charging system works out how you use the car and charges accordingly. You never have to worry about whether you have enough charge in your car. The car can charge up whenever it is parked and depending on your driving patterns it can choose whether to fast charge or slow charge your car, or to wait until the cost of electricity is low before charging". In case of last minute changes of travel plans, external intervention can be achieved through a mobile phone telephone call to modify the rate of charge to ensure that the car is ready for use when it is needed.

By working out the daily and weekly patterns of car usage, the system has the potential to remove range anxiety forever. With IPT charging installed in car parks and in owner's homes, the electric car itself can make sure it always has enough charge for whatever driving the owner wants to do.

The system works for councils as well. "Councils are being told they have to put in charging points," explains Stimpson. "That currently means a charging post. This is an issue: they increase street clutter, look untidy and are an ongoing maintenance concern for councils."

"Our system has no moving parts, is installed into the road surface and is cheaper than a charging post."

A static IPT trial is currently under development for electric cars in the UK and an electric bus trial is planned with IPT charging being built into bus stops. When the bus is at a stop, the batteries are recharged. As the bus pulls away from the bus stop, the bus is still receiving power from the system and not the batteries.

The bus is charging even when it is on the move coming to the bus stop and when pulling away. "Electric buses currently don't have the range to be used in our towns and cities", explains Stimpson. "Using IPT charging at bus stops, electric buses can get boost charges to keep them going all day."

Long term, the vision for the IPT system is dynamic charging. Dynamic charging utilizes IPT to charge electric vehicles on the move. Stimpson believes that in the future, dynamic charging will built into major roads, enabling electric cars to recharging as they travel.

Stimpson describes it as a twenty year vision. Building and renovating motorways and freeways is hugely expensive. The incremental cost for building in dynamic charging is negligible. The system would not have to be continuous; it could be installed in strips every few miles. The cars would switch between being powered by batteries and being powered by the dynamic charging system built into the road.

It is not surprising that Stimpson believes that dynamic charging will become the standard way to charge electric cars.

Static IPT charging systems are being installed in the very near future. Dynamic charging is a little way off but its development is exciting. Future electric car owners may never need to worry about range ever again.

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