Plugless Power is a family of
Electric Vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
Supply Equipment (EVSE) products manufactured by Plugless Power, Inc. that enable wireless
(inductive) charging for
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
s (WCEV). The Plugless Power EVSE wirelessly delivers electrical power to the on-board EV battery charger using
electromagnetic induction
Electromagnetic or magnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force, electromotive force (emf) across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field.
Michael Faraday is generally credited with the discovery of induction in 1 ...
without a physical connection (
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
) to the vehicle. An EV equipped with a Plugless Vehicle Adapter can be charged by parking it over an inductive Plugless Parking Pad. The active step of plugging a cord into the vehicle is eliminated.
History and development
In 2009, Evatran began development of Plugless Power, an inductive charging system for charging Electric Vehicles without plugging in. Field trials were begun in March 2010. The first system was sold to Google in 2011 for employee use at the Mountain View campus. Evatran began selling the Plugless L2 Wireless charging system to the public in 2014.
In simple terms, inductive charging works by separating the two halves of an electric
transformer
In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...
with an air gap – one half, the Plugless Power Vehicle Adapter, is installed on the vehicle and the other half, the Plugless Power Parking Pad, is installed on the floor of a garage or in a parking lot. When a car with an Adapter drives over a Pad, the two pieces are brought into close proximity, , then
current
Currents, Current or The Current may refer to:
Science and technology
* Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas
** Air current, a flow of air
** Ocean current, a current in the ocean
*** Rip current, a kind of water current
** Current (hydr ...
from the
electrical grid
An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power tran ...
flows through the coils in the Power Pad to create magnetic fields and these fields induce current flow in the Vehicle Adapter's coils to charge the
battery
Battery or batterie most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
* Battery indicator, a device whic ...
.
Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. Historically, the lab has been involved with nuclear research, although the labora ...
(INL) testing in 2013
found the system had a power delivery efficiency between 84%-90%, compared to 95%-99% for corded charging systems.
In 2014, ''Popular Science'' included the Plugless L2 charging system as Best of What's New 2014.
As of October 2016, the Plugless L2 was being sold for use with the Nissan LEAF, Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac ELR and Tesla Model S. In 2020, support for BMW i3 had been added, while the original plans were much more ambitious: targeting 80% of EVs by 2017.
Manufacturer
Founded in 2009, Evatran was formed as a clean technology subsidiary of MTC Transformers, an award-winning American manufacturer of high-quality, precision-engineered transformers and rewind services based in
Wytheville, Virginia
Wytheville ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Wythe County, Virginia, Wythe County, Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Wytheville ...
.
See also
*
Charging station
A charging station, also known as a charge point, chargepoint, or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a power supply electrical device, device that supplies electrical power for recharging plug-in electric vehicles (including batter ...
*
GridPoint
GridPoint is an American clean technology company based in Reston, Virginia, that provides energy management and sustainability services to enterprises and government agencies, such as electric utilities.
GridPoint services include building ma ...
*
Inductive charging
Inductive charging (also known as wireless charging or cordless charging) is a type of wireless power transfer. It uses electromagnetic induction to provide electricity to portable devices. Inductive charging is also used in vehicles, power tool ...
*
OpenEVSE
OpenEVSE ''(Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment)'' is an Arduino-based charging station created by Christopher Howell and Sam C. Lin. The charger is composed of open-source software and hardware that can be made by individuals.
The project started ...
*
Vehicle-to-grid
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) describes a system in which plug-in electric vehicles (PIEVs) sell demand response services to the electrical grid. Such services are either backfeeding electricity to the grid, or reducing the rate of charge from the gri ...
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Plugless Power website
Charging stations
Electric vehicles
Wireless energy transfer
Privately held companies based in Virginia
Renewable energy organizations based in the United States