ITMO and Yablochkov: Electric vehicle wireless charging system

Main article: Electric filling stations (electric charging stations, ESS)

2023: System Development

Scientists ITMO and the company "" Apples have developed a wireless system. charging electric vehicles ITMO announced this on February 7, 2023. It does not require bulky connectors, wires, is simple and safe to use. With the help of the system, it will be possible to charge anyone - electric transport from an electric car to. electrobus To do this, you only need to park the transport facility. In the future, the technology can be introduced into the urban environment, for example, at public stops or transport parking lots.

One of the problems of the development of electric vehicles is the lack of convenient infrastructure for charging cars, buses with electric motors. Existing solutions offer a "classic" way to power batteries, but it is not always convenient because it requires physical wiring from the charging station.

The presented system practically does not require human participation. The system operates on the magnetic resonance communication method of the transmitter and receiver.

To demonstrate the performance of the technology, scientists have developed a prototype that, as of February 2023, transmits 11 kW power over a distance of up to 300 mm, charging efficiency reaches 95%. It supports the international standard for wireless charging of electric vehicles SAE J2954. Externally, the prototype resembles two compact boxes, between which the near magnetic field necessary to transmit energy is formed.

The first box (receiver) is mounted on the bottom of an electric car during production, the second (transmitter) is located under the road surface, through the air gap between them energy will be transmitted to power the battery. In practice, this means that it will be enough to park the car above the transmitting magnetic system (for example, at the charging station or parking), and it will begin to automatically charge, that is, a person does not need to perform any additional actions: look for a special connector, connect wires. It's all about the magnetic resonance-based system, "explained Georgy Baranov, lead project engineer, engineer of the ITMO physics department.

In the next six months, ITMO researchers, together with partners from Yablochki, plan to optimize the device and increase its power to 50 kW - with this power, charging the car will take only an hour. Then scientists intend to develop a full-fledged charging station with a capacity of 300 kW. This will allow you to charge electric buses or autonomous loaders used in ports or enterprises in 30 minutes.

According to the experience of operating any wired charging stations that customers share with us, the cable is one of those components that most often fails, it twists, and the insulation deteriorates from the sun, pollution and physical influences. With colleagues from ITMO, we decided to make a project at the junction of wireless technologies. Our research interests and vision for the development of such charging systems coincided. In the ideal future, the process of charging an electric car should become completely "seamless," said Samvel Avetisyan, co-founder and product director of Yablochki.

The proposed system is safe for humans. In the future, it can be introduced into the city infrastructure, for example, mounted in the road surface at parking lots or equipped with public transport stops.

Imagine, the electric bus drove up to the stop, and during the time that passengers enter and exit, it managed to recharge, after which it successfully continued the route. Charging occurs quickly without the need to connect to the pantograph or insert a cable from the charging station. At the same time, no weather conditions: wind, rain, snowfall do not affect the quality of the charge and the safety of the system for humans and the environment, - said Polina Kapitanova, scientific director of the project, professor, senior researcher at ITMO physics and technology. - Such a coating can be installed in the garage, at stops, public parking lots to simplify and speed up charging. To refine and improve the technology to a real product, we are open to close interaction with the industry.