BMW developing wireless inductive charging system for electric vehicles

Electric and hybrid vehicles are an attractive alternative to conventional cars with internal combustion engines, but everyone knows the problem of charging will forget to put the battery to be charged, in the morning you will be without your "iron horse". It is in order to drivers of electric vehicles are not waiting for such a nasty surprise, the BMW Group has developed a charger-a new generation, working on wireless inductive technology, the speed is comparable to cable charging.





BMW sees electric cars premium like most of the automotive market of the future. The company already has in its Arsenal a fully electric car i3 and hybrid i8, which can be charged via a wired frame device BMW i Wallbox.





 

A new induction system designed to charge existing batteries BMW i, as well as the company-developed batteries. In addition, currently, BMW is working with Daimler in the development of standardized inductive chargers with the aim of increasing proliferation of electric vehicles. Among the advantages of inductive charging you can note the absence of connectors that, according to the company, allows to reduce the mechanical wear of vehicle parts. In addition, the driver has no need to even get out of the car, he can just Park and push a button. The charging system will do the rest, the driver can monitor the level of charge in real time in the app on your smartphone by connecting it to the charger via Wi-Fi.

 





The charging system consists of two components – a primary coil that is installed in the plate on the floor of the garage or carport, and a secondary coil installed in the bottom of the car. Both coils have a circular shape to limit the magnetic field to ensure safety. The alternating magnetic field in the primary coil generates in the secondary coil variable voltage capacity 3.6 kW, which is enough to fully charge the high-voltage battery within three hours.

A charging system continuously monitors the space between the primary and secondary coils, so if a foreign object enters the magnetic field, the system automatically turns off.

Says BMW, the prototype system has an efficiency of 90 percent and can charge the i8 in less than two hours. Currently the company is working to increase the capacity of charging up to 7 kW.









Source: www.cheburek.net