Overview
Zero-emission travel, noiseless power trains and driving comfort are big advantages for electric vehicles (EV). One drawback, however, is the limited range that results from the use of smaller batteries to keep the cost down. In the day-to-day usage of such full electric vehicles (FEV) the driver has to recharge the vehicle quite. Using cables to connect vehicles in an outdoor environment is very unattractive for reasons of safety and soiling especially during winter with cold wet days. Additional drawbacks are liability issues with cables lying in the street and modification of the urban landscape. Battery recharging every day by cable could slow the growth of urban FEV fleets.
The WIC2IT project offers a solution to expand FEV growth even faster by offering wireless charging. The ease-of-use of such charging systems insures that vehicles are connected to the grid more often since the driver just has to park the vehicle on the right spot and does not have to handle any bulky, heavy, dirty cables.
The major challenge here is to ensure that different vehicles are able to use charging spots whenever a parking space with such a spot becomes free. Successful interoperation means that even newer vehicles can be charged inductively at spots with older systems that were not specifically designed for the particular vehicle. The same is true for vehicles that might come from different manufacturers.
Differences may occur since it is important to allow a free market and maximum design freedom for both vehicle manufacturers and suppliers of charging equipment.
A second challenge within the scope of interoperation is in the knowledge of electromagnetic radiation. WIC2IT looks at the effect of electromagnetic radiation on living beings in order to gain valuable experience that will help determine the extent of design freedom and thus support the standardization process to make wireless charging reality in EU.