INDUCAR – INDUctive Charging for e-CARs
What is it?
INDUCAR is an inductive charging system for electric cars, designed to better fit the users’ charging preferences and maximize their convenience by bringing an essential level of automation.
Wireless charging will be aligned with the Machine-to-Machine communication technologies, to fully automate the identification, payment and charging operations.
INDUCAR will deliver the wireless charging station and the corresponding vehicle-side components for power transfer. The hardware components will come with software for the systems and adapt the selected vehicle types to allow wireless charging
INDUCAR will allow to have an extended range (operational hours), to reduce range anxiety and an optimum use of the EV’s batteries and a better integration of 100% electric driving modes in the urban business activities.
Where?
INDUCAR will be demonstrated in Barcelona, on vehicles owned by the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB).
For whom?
INDUCAR is now specifically designed for the AMB but is meant for large-scale roll out to professional and private fleet once EU standards have been defined. The product’s automated identification, payment and charging operations, should be particularly convenient for professional users and carsharing services.
What are the innovative aspects?
The automotive industry has not already foreseen the use of wireless charging in its design and INDUCAR has set new references to bring the product to the highest level of technical protection to fulfil fundamental safety requirements prioritizing the safety of the users. INDUCAR has developed a highly precise metal object detector avoiding any danger for the user. With this feature, a smart design avoids any hazard or risk for domestic animals, which could be in contact with the wireless charging system through a living object detector preventing animals from being harmed. No other wireless product has developed this feature in the world.
To be compatible with the autonomous driving of the future, already under development by the automotive manufacturers, INDUCAR is equipped with a positioning functionality to guide the user during the parking procedure, compatible with the positioning technology implemented today in the most modern e-vehicles.
Timeline
What’s new with INDUCAR?
Aligned with the latest technological improvements and trends in the market, the INDUCAR product is a high-tech solution complying with the highest safety standards and requirements under evolution in the market, using technologies not yet developed by the automotive sector. The first basic prototype design of an operative wireless charging system for e-Cars was designed for integration on retrofitting vehicles and successfully tested in a laboratory.
The system was retrofitted on two vehicles. Both vehicles are now at the demonstration site in Barcelona Metropolitan Area, where they are ready for the start of the demonstration phase. First, the vehicles will be tested by a small group of drivers. After the initial small-scale testing and training the large-scale demonstration will start and the vehicles will be tested by the employees of AMB.
