We have witnessed a quickening progression in the automotive industry’s evolution toward all-electric vehicles over the course of the past few months. Other companies, such as Nissan, have enjoyed strong EV sales, which prompted other companies to invest in this technology. Volkswagen has conducted tests on electric vehicles since the 1970s and just released the e-Golf in Germany, so it has a rich history of working with this technology. VW has recently become quite adamant in researching wireless charging technologies.
Yes, the company’s commitment to electric technology has not just heralded VW’s release of the e-Golf (other plug-in vehicles are on the way, too), it also lead the automaker to pursue wireless charging capabilities for its EVs. It could potentially reach this goal as soon as 2017; however, this date is merely tentative. Volkswagen engineer Herbert Ruholl spoke to Ecomento and explained the issues that may hinder such an early release.
Current wired-charge technology suffers from a lack of standardization, which prevents the ability for universal charging. This means that some cars can plug into a given cord to charge while others may not – the problem of no standard design. When applied to inductive charging, people may face the same concern. Without resolving this issue, consumers would bear a huge expense.
“For example,” explained Ruholl, “if you have different cars in your household or company, you do not want to buy such an inductive charging system for each car.”
Though no car manufacturer offers an inductive charge system, there exist after-market companies who produce and sell these systems for a cost of $3,000 each. Regardless of the current costs, Volkswagen remains committed to this technology and fully believes that it will quickly transition from an optional luxury add-on to a standard feature.
If you’re unsure of the practical use of wireless charging technology, we encourage you to research the transit system in Turin, Italy. It has used electric bus routes with wireless stations for more than a decade, allowing buses to charge batteries at stops, terminals and hubs.
We at Leith Volkswagen in Cary applaud our company for its efforts in remaining at the forefront of automotive technology.
Comments are closed.