Toyota Plans to Employ Angular Coil for Wireless Power Transmission

Hope this is going to be available in the next Gen Prius Plug-in or Toyota NS4. This is high tech!

 

I prefer the center, so you can pick which direction I'm sure they can use a little light to indicate if you are in the right spot.

 

i am sure there is long long way before this becomes something to be used in real life scenarios... first of all, "stations" need to be standardized so it works on most if not all cars. Without that, it is useless.

 

This technology is available today at an extraordinary price as an aftermarket. The expected price was $12K with a wireless alignment feature. News were posted in the EAA monthly circular a way back.

 

This is a positive change. Nothing can be more time consuming than plugging in your car a few times a day. I would hate to have to plug in my other appliances as I use them TV, Coffee maker, Washer, etc. This is a no brainer and Americans like things to be very easy.

 

What about your phone, tablet, or laptop?

 

I wonder if Toyota will some form of sensor guidance for the driver can closely align the vehicle with the charging pad? That would be helpful.

DBCassidy

 

It is no secret that Apple is throwing money at and recorded patents on wireless charging.

 

Agree. Robotic lawnmowers already navigate themselves to their recharging bases. A car should be able to self-guide itself over the charging pad too, once it gets close enough.

Still, this looks to be a much more expensive option than just plugging the car in. I seriously doubt we'll see this in a Gen. IV plug-in Prius.

 

Traditionally one of the biggest issues has been low efficiency of the setup.
I would love to see this type of technology become widespread

 

Especially when they put the plug on the wrong side of the car.

 

Fortunately the article (as they all seem to state) only says they're thinking about it. With the U.S. grid being in such crappy shape, it's not like we can afford to build a more expensive form of charging, just for the lazy factor, just so we can create a greater amount of loss. After all, the goal is to get as much of the juice into the battery as possible. Why would people want to waste 10%-15% of all charging power, just so they don't have to plug in.
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There was a article from one of the Exec VP ot Toyota at the LA Auto Show that spoke about Toyota funding research in Battery Technology and Wireless Charging. Toyota see's this as the future. Something will emerge.

 

Despite the inevitable charging loss, I'm all for it if it's reasonable priced

 

Wireless charging for electric vehicles is a bad idea. Even if the transmission is 95% efficient, you'd still be throwing kw of power away on every charge. It's not safe. It would be like running your microwave oven with the door open--except that more power is involved. Not only would it cause RF interference, but it could be fatal to small pets or children that get too close for too long.

 

There are already such mats on the market now. You can even get a new Dart with one installed for your phone.

For those that find taking the plug from the charger to their car and back such a huge drain of time out of their day will find some other reason not to go plug when wireless charging is available.

Are these the same people that will pay extra for a full service fill up of their gasser?