President Obama plans to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. These electric vehicles will need to be recharged frequently.
Momentum Dynamics has developed an easy-to-use method for wirelessly recharging electric vehicles. Instead of having to recharge EVs at dedicated charging stations, Momentum Dynamics will facilitate the recharging of EVs at parking spaces, stoplights and waiting areas.
The wireless recharging system consists of a mat that can be laid on a surface or embedded into pavement. The electric vehicle must be equipped with a 40×12-inch receiver placed on the EV’s underside. Simply, parking or stopping the EV above the recharging map triggers recharging.
Since no physical or human activity is required to make a connection between the grid and the vehicle, such passive recharging should accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. Other benefits of such recharging system include: no direct supervision is required; inclement weather should not deter recharging; and, there is no electrocution threat to pedestrians because in-ground chargers are activated only when in-vehicle receivers are positioned directly over the chargers.
The Momentum Dynamics system incorporates software that enables its wireless recharging stations to automatically identify vehicles and then bill vehicle owners for their power consumption, in much the same way that E-ZPass technology used by some turnpike systems automatically deducts fares from drivers’ checking accounts when they pass through toll areas.
The system can recharge a vehicle using lower voltage systems (240V) much more rapidly than a comparable plug-in charger. Since electric vehicles that recharge with Momentum Dynamics’ technology pickup small charges throughout the day—rather than recharging overnight after the battery is nearly fully drained—Momentum Dynamics reduces the stress placed on the electric grid and extends the life of the battery by prohibiting deep discharging of the lithium-ion battery.