While walking around the International CES last week in Las Vegas I stumbled upon an Ariel Atom; or at least it looked like one, although nobody on the stand seemed to know for sure since it was devoid of any drive train components or markings. It was being used as a skeletal car to demonstrate the Halo wireless inductive charging technology.
Halo’s Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) system was one of the highlights of the electric Rolls Royce 102EX concept car, unveiled at last year’s Geneva Auto Show. An electric car only needs to be parked over a pad to charge the batteries – no cables needed.
Meanwhile, among all the wireless charging devices for cell phones and other electronics at CES I found another company, eCoupled with a similar but incompatible wireless charging system. It returned to CES with its wirelessly charged Tesla sports car which was a show highlight a year ago.
Last November HaloIPT, the New Zealand/British company that developed the technology was purchased by Qualcomm, the well-known San Diego-based company that invented CDMA cell phone technologies.
One of the reps told me how the WEVC pads could be embedded in a highway to provide continuous charging while a car is moving. He also revealed that the Qualcomm Halo WEVC technology is being used in the electric-powered Drayson LeMans prototype unveiled in the UK last week. He suggested pads could be integrated into a race circuit to provide continuous charging for cars as they race around the track.
Related posts:
- Wireless Charging for Rolls Royce 102EX
- Mitsubishi Builds Solar-Powered EV Charging Station
- Wireless Recharging to Make Racing Debut
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