Connect with us

BMW Rolls Out New Info on its Inductive Charging System

(Credit: © BMW)

Latest Car News

BMW Rolls Out New Info on its Inductive Charging System

BMW Inductive Charging

BMW Inductive Charging (Credit: © BMW)

I am not shy about my partialness to electric vehicles, as I am a huge technology buff, and I see electricity as the way of the future for automobiles. This love for technology is why news of Daimler and BMW working together to develop inductive charging for their electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles gets me all charged up (pun completely intended). First of all, seeing two rival companies getting together and sharing technology shows just how important it is. Secondly, having two of the best companies at perfecting new technology working at this lets me know that we are all in safe hands.

The latest development in the inductive-charging project between Daimler and BMW has resulted in a prototype that may blow the lid off one of the biggest downsides to electric vehicles: ease of charging. So many people prefer to just park their car after a hard day’s work, stumble into the house, and flop down on the couch. They don’t want to have to worry about plugging in their car and setting up the wall charger. Well, this prototype proves that plugging in may be a thing of the past in coming years.

BMW and Daimler’s prototype inductive charging station charges EV or hybrid batteries by parking over a special base plate with a car that has a secondary coil on its underside. The prototype is capable of recharging at a rate of 3.6 kW using an alternating magnetic field between the base plate and the secondary coil, which will charge most plug-in hybrids in three hours. In testing, this system recharged a BMW i8 in just two hours. What’s more, the required base plate mounts onto any flat, paved area, meaning you can mount it in your garage, carport, parking space at work or even a reserved parking space on the side of the road.

BMW Inductive Charging

BMW Inductive Charging (Credit: © BMW)

This system has also shown room for growth to a rate of 7 kW, which would charge the all-electric BMW i3 overnight. With the technology currently available, the i3 charges on a 240-volt source in 3.5 hours and on a 120-volt source in 20 hours.

For those of you concerned with the safety of this system, BMW states that the system functions without issues in all conditions, including snow, ice and rain. Additionally, the electromagnetic radiation is minimal from this system, and it immediately stops the flow of electricity if it senses a foreign object in its charging field.

This system sounds like a win-win to me, let’s just hope there are no snags in the rest if the testing process.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Latest Car News

SPONSORED

Newsletter

Get Our StoriesIn Your Inbox

Subscribe for our latest news, reviews, and lists.

Popular Stories

Recent Posts

SPONSORED
To Top