Evatran May Lead In Cordless EV Chargers
By Scott Doggett July 25, 2011
Virginia startup Evatran may have the lead among a growing number of businesses developing cordless charging systems for electric vehicles (EVs). Company cofounder Rebecca Hough told AutoObserver last week that Evatran's Plugless Power system has achieved the 90-percent minimum efficiency from power source to onboard car charger that automakers seek in hands-free EV charging systems and that many automakers have expressed interest for their systems.
The two-year-old privately held company headquartered in Wytheville (pop. 7,800) debuted its Plugless Power recharging system for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) at the Plug-In 2010 Conference in San Jose, Calif., last July. At the time, the system's salient feature was a charging pad with dimensions similar to those of the largest plasma TVs. EVs fitted with a Plugless Power vehicle adapter - a Frisbee-size device that attaches to the bottom of the vehicle - can park above the pad and receive electricity without making contact with it. The system's efficiency from power source (240-volt outlet) to onboard automaker-supplied vehicle charger was about 75 percent last summer.
But at the just-ended Plug-In 2011 Convention in Raleigh, N.C., Evatran displayed a charging pad not much bigger than a sofa pillow and announced that the efficiency of its Plugless Power system had improved to 90 percent - and could improve still. As Hough explained it, there are three areas in the Plugless Power system that together account for the 10 percent energy loss that occurs between the 240-volt power source and the onboard automaker-supplied vehicle charger.
Exceeding 90 Percent
First, there's the power control module (PCM), which is typically wall mounted in residential applications and takes tower form in commercial applications, such as curbside charging. About 3 percentage points of energy efficiency are lost in the PCM. Another 3 percentage points are lost over the wireless air gap between the parking pad and the vehicle adapter. The remaining 4 percentage-point loss occurs in the Evatran-supplied vehicle adapter, which receives the power inductively from the pad and transfers it to the onboard charger that every EV is equipped with during assembly.
"The best thing about our system is that we're achieving about 97 percent efficiency over the air gap," Hough said. "So actually a majority of our power loss within the 10 percent is in the station electronics and the vehicle adapter electronics. So we really see over the next few months or years potentially that we can even increase that more, because those power electronics are not necessarily something that has to stay at a 3 or a 4 percent loss. We can even get that higher than 90 percent, which we're pretty excited about."
System efficiency matters because consumers aren't going to want to pay for electricity they are buying but cannot use, anymore than a motorist at a gas station wants to pay for 10 gallons of gasoline but only receive nine gallons. Automakers know this, which is why they've told Evatran and other makers of cordless EV charging systems that they'd like to see at least 90 percent efficiency in the systems. Now that Evatran has hit the mark, "we're working with practically every major manufacturer out there," Hough said.
Moving Beyond Google
Additionally, Evatran, which earlier this year installed Plugless Power stations in parking spaces at Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters as part of a pilot program with the Internet search engine, may soon partner with a major U.S. car-sharing company in a trial of the inductive charging technology. Hough said that Evatran is currently seeking between five and eight partners to use the technology on a trial basis by October.
The Plugless Power system would be tested on Chevy Volts plug-in hybrids, Hough said, even though it is compatible with other electric-drive vehicles, including the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i battery-electric cars. She said Evatran is focusing on three applications for the system: Residential garage, residential driveway and fleet use. The company believes the system work very well with those applications, and it recognizes that its system is different from ported systems in that it requires that the vehicle adapter be installed on a car before it can pull up to a Plugless Power station for charging.
The system's advantages to the user, versus ported systems, are numerous. Among them: Plugless Power doesn't require handling a cord, which can dirty hands and clothes; there's no cord to trip over; users needn't wonder if they've plugged in; risk of electrocution is greatly reduced. Evatran sees home users as its chief market. It expects to initially offer Plugless Power to residential customers for around $2,500, which excludes installation. Coulomb Technologies connected home-charging station is currently selling for around $2,200, installation excluded.
Growing Competition
Technology giant Siemens AG recently joined the ranks of Evatran, Massachusetts-based WiTricity and U.K.-based HaloIPT in the cordless EV charging space, and with good reason. Worldwide annual revenue from the chargers, which will be negligible this year, will exceed $1 billion in 2019, Pike Research said in a November report. In North America, unit sales of wireless EV chargers will reach about 10,000 in 2014 and increase to more than 132,000 units by the end of the decade, Pike said.
Hough said Evatran's goal is to launch an aftermarket product for the Volt at a minimum and potentially for additional models by next July, "and then by July 1 of 2013 we anticipate launching with a major manufacturer so you can walk into a dealership and say, 'I'd like the leather seats and the navigation system and a Plugless Power charging station.' We assume, based on our current level of interest and our current contracts that we'll launch that within a couple of years."
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