Major breakthrough achieved in wireless charging an Electric Vehicle at Stanford

Wirelessly charging an Electric Vehicle while it’s on the move and eliminating the need of stopping for recharge now seems a close possibility as Scientists at Stanford University overcome a major hurdle in doing so.

Dr. Shanhui Fan, Professor of electrical engineering and graduate student Sid Assawaworrarit, the study’s lead author demonstrated the wireless charging of a moving object (video below) this past Wednesday. In this demonstrated they successfully transferred electricity to light up an LED using magnetic resonance.

This breakthrough is a precursor of a fantastic future ahead with endless possibilities, this advancement will at last get rid of the ‘range anxiety’ for future Electric Vehicle owners.

Let’s look at the wireless charging to a moving object demonstration:

Scientists at Stanford believe that the need for stopping for a electric vehicle recharge can be totally eliminated by placing an electricity receiving coil at the vehicle base and a series of coils planted in the road. This method would be very effective while the vehicles are stationary at a traffic signal or in traffic jams (concept illustration below).

According to Stanford Report:

Wireless charging would address a major drawback of plug-in electric cars – their limited driving range. Tesla Motors expects its upcoming Model 3 to go more than 200 miles on a single charge and the Chevy Bolt, which is already on the market, has an advertised range of 238 miles. But electric vehicle batteries generally take several hours to fully recharge. A charge-as-you-drive system would overcome these limitations.

“In theory, one could drive for an unlimited amount of time without having to stop to recharge,” Fan explained. “The hope is that you’ll be able to charge your electric car while you’re driving down the highway. A coil in the bottom of the vehicle could receive electricity from a series of coils connected to an electric current embedded in the road.”

Surely this breakthrough is a great news for EV enthusiasts and the people who believe in a sustainable green world. The day might not be far for us when there will be no need to charge the vehicle at all and nullify all excuses for not adopting to and Electric Vehicle.

You can read the full report by Stanford University here for further study. We salute their hard work and concern towards a sustainable future for generations to come.