Volvo is integrating and testing a new wireless charging technology in real-world conditions.
Over a three-year trial period, a small fleet of electric Volvo XC40 Recharge cars will be used as taxis by Cabonline, the largest taxi operator in the Nordic region, and charged wirelessly at stations in Gothenburg.
The charging will start automatically when the vehicle rolls over a charging pad embedded in the street, allowing drivers to conveniently charge without having to get out of their car.
To align the car with the charging pad, the XC40 Recharges will use their 360-degree camera system. The charging speeds, meanwhile, will be “more than 40 kW” – three times faster than a typical 11 kW alternate current wired charger and almost as fast as 50 kW direct current wired fast chargers.
“Gothenburg Green City Zone lets us try exciting new technologies in a real environment and evaluate them over time for a potential future broader introduction,” says Mats Moberg, Head of Research and Development at Volvo Cars.
“Testing new charging technologies together with selected partners is a good way to evaluate alternative charging options for our future cars.”
In total, the cars will be used for more than 12 hours per day and drive an expected 100,000 km per year. This also makes this project the first durability test of fully electric Volvo cars in a commercial usage scenario.
The charging pads are provided by Momentum Dynamics – a leading provider of wireless electric charging systems.
Other partners involved in the wireless charging project include the company’s own Swedish retailers Volvo Bil and Volvo Car Sörred, Swedish energy company Vattenfall and its charging network InCharge, the city energy company Göteborg Energi, and Business Region Gothenburg, a municipal economic development agency owned by the City of Gothenburg.
Last year, Volvo Cars took part in launching the Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative, which aims to achieve emission-free transport by 2030. Using a real city as a testing ground will enable the company to accelerate the development of technologies and services in the areas of electrification, shared mobility, autonomous driving, connectivity and safety.
