Scientists from ITMO University and the Yablochkov company have developed a prototype of a wireless charging system for electric vehicles.

The equipment works on the principle of magnetic resonance communication, thanks to which it will be possible to charge the car in a contactless way.

This was reported to RT in the press service of ITMO.

A prototype wireless system consists of a receiver and a transmitter.

The receiver is installed on the bottom of the electric vehicle at the factory assembly stage, and the transmitter is placed under the road surface.

During the charging process, a near magnetic field is formed between them, which is necessary for energy transfer.

“In practice, this means that it will be enough to park the car above the transmission system (for example, at a charging station or parking lot), and its battery will start charging automatically, that is, a person does not need to perform any additional actions: look for a special connector, connect wires, etc. d., ”Georgy Baranov, the lead engineer of the project, engineer of the New Physics and Technology Institute of ITMO, explained to RT.

  • The principle of operation of a wireless charging station.

    Infographic: Daria Bogolyubova

  • © ITMO Press Service

An 11 kW device charges a car at a distance of up to 30 cm. The efficiency of such charging reaches 95%, which means that only 5% of the transmitted energy is lost in the process.

In the next six months, the authors of the work plan to increase the battery power to 50 kW - in this case, a passenger car can be fully charged in an hour.

Next, the researchers intend to develop a charging station with a capacity of 300 kW.

This will allow for 30 minutes to charge electric buses or autonomous loaders used in ports or at enterprises.

According to the developers, in the future the technology can be introduced into the urban environment, for example, at public transport stops or parking lots.

“Imagine an electric bus pulled up to a stop, and during the time that passengers get on and off, it managed to recharge, after which it successfully continued the route.

Charging is fast without the need to connect to a pantograph or plug in a cable from a charging station.

At the same time, no weather conditions: wind, rain, snowfall do not affect the quality of the charge and the safety of the system for humans and the environment,” said Polina Kapitanova, project supervisor, senior researcher at ITMO’s New Physicotechnical Institute.

  • Gettyimages.ru

The lack of a developed infrastructure for charging cars and buses with electric motors hinders the development of electric transport, the authors of the work note.

Existing filling stations for electric vehicles are not very convenient - drivers have to charge the battery through a special cable.

According to the authors of the development, wireless charging of electric vehicles will be more convenient, reliable and safer than wired counterparts.

“According to the experience of operating any wired charging stations that customers share with us, the cable is one of those components that most often fails, it twists, and the insulation deteriorates from the sun, pollution and physical influences,” explained in an interview with RT co-founder and product director of Yablochkov Samvel Avetisyan.

Recall that now the field of development of wireless charging stations is actively developing abroad.

So, the Israeli company Electreon is already working in this area.

In 2021, automaker Volvo said it would be testing wireless car charging technology.