Toyota wants to make the process of recharging an electric car as quick and painless as possible by taking the "plug" out of plug-in car. Toyota announced this morning that it's developing a new wireless battery charging system with an eye on production, that'll use ground-mounted electromagnets to re-charge an electric car or plug-in hybrid's battery in as little as 90 minutes.
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Like the wireless battery recharging systems that Nissan and Volvo are developing (among others), Toyota's wireless (or inductive) charging system works using magnets. A ground-mounted electromagnetic coil transmits energy through a magnetic field that is then picked up by a receiving coil in the car parked above the charging system. That current is then used to charge the car's battery.
Toyota currently has a fleet of three Prius Plug-Ins that it's using to develop its wireless recharging system in Japan. In addition to the receiver coil, the Prius Plug-Ins are modified with a special version of Intelligent Park Assist, that shows the position of the transmitting coil in the parking space, allowing the driver to properly line up the two magnetic coils.
Toyota says it's developing its inductive charging system with production in mind. The charging coils have been developed to reduce electromagnetic interference with the surrounding environment, and with the capability to withstand abuse from being parked on and driven over.
Wireless charging is just one answer to the electric car question. In addition to an inductive charging system of its own, Nissan is also currently working on plug-in fast chargers. Tesla, which already has cross-country fast-charging infrastructure, is currently working on installing battery swap stations around the country.
Source: Toyota
I generally like writing—especially when it’s about cars—but I hate writing about myself. So instead of blathering on about where I was born (New York City, in case you were wondering) or what type of cars I like (all of ’em, as long as it has a certain sense of soul or purpose), I’ll answer the one question I probably get most, right after what’s your favorite car (see above): How’d you get that job? Luck. Well, mostly. Hard work, too. Lots of it. I sort of fell into my major of journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and generally liked it a lot. In order to complete my degree senior year, we had to spend our last two semesters on some sort of project. Seeing as I loved cars and already spent a good portion of my time reading about cars on sites such as Motor Trend, I opted to create a car blog. I started a Tumblr, came up with a car-related name (The Stig’s American Cousin), signed up for media access on a bunch of manufacturer’s websites, and started writing. I did everything from cover new trim levels to reviewing my friends’ cars. I even wrote a really bad April Fool’s Day post about the next Subaru Impreza WRX being Toyota-Corolla-based. It was fun, and because it was fun, it never felt like work. Sometime after my blog had gotten off the ground, I noticed that Motor Trend was hiring for what’s now our Daily News Team. I sent in my résumé and a link to my blog. I got the job, and two weeks after graduation I made the move from New York to California. I’ve been happily plugging away at a keyboard—and driving some seriously awesome hardware—ever since.
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