One of main impediments to the uptake of electric cars is the presumed hassle of charging them.
Plugless Power is testing a wireless charging system with partners Hertz Rental, Clemson University, Duke Energy and others. Sears offers an installation service to put the charging system in the homes of people who own the Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf.
The system begins charging the car’s battery as soon as it rolls over a "parking pad." No cords or plugs.
The system goes on sale by the end of this year for about $2500, the same price as advanced corded solutions that more quickly charge batteries than a standard outlet.
Evatran, which developed the wireless system, is also working with car makers to integrate it into electrics and plug-ins as a factory or dealership option when people buy the cars.
Hertz has EVs and plug-ins available for rental in the U.S. (New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco), London, and Shanghai, China, and will add more countries in the coming months.
The company is also a member of the Electrification Leadership Council, which is designing a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) demonstration project that will help create a comprehensive national model for EV deployment.
Last year, Hertz announced the installation of over 2.3 megawatts (MW) of solar PV at 16 US locations as the first phase of its solar initiative.
Loading...
Great solution with wireless charging. Having cables run from vehicles to charging posts is very dangerous as the lady in London found who tripped over one and died.