ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Charging electric cars efficiently inductive

Kontaktloses, induktives Ladesystem fŸr Elektrofahrzeuge, entwickelt am Fraunhofer IISBResearchers at Fraunhofer Institute have developed a particularly efficient and cost-effective method that means electric cars could soon follow suit. Researchers from the scientific and industrial communities have been working for several years to find ways to use induction to charge electric vehicles. The current approach involves mounting induction coils on the underside of the vehicle and installing charging stations in the ground. But this brings with it a number of significant challenges. The coils need to be very powerful expensive and large in size. There is also the problem of objects or animals impeding the charging process by blocking the transmission of power. Researchers at the began pursuing an alternative approach in a bid to resolve these problems. Since this allows the car to be driven much closer to the induction source the coils themselves are much smaller in diameter than in the floor-based version. The system is more efficient, more cost-effective and makes it less probable that obstacles will disrupt the flow of energy.