SIGNIFICANCE OF WIRELESS CHARGING:–
Wireless charging technology is most commonly used in medical devices, automobiles & food products where the electrical shock level must be kept to a minimum & no other electrical contacts are permitted. Wireless charging can also reduce the number of power adapters and cables that are required for various devices and applications. In 2020, the Global Wireless Charging Market accounted for nearly USD 4.47 billion. It is forecasted to reach a benchmark of approximately USD 34.65 billion by 2030, along with a CAGR of 22.73%.
Wireless charging in EVs relies on the process of resonant magnetic induction to transfer the energy between a pad on the ground & another beneath the floor of a compatible EV. The area of the charging pad is around 1metre square, while the receiving pad of the car is enclosed in a smaller, dinner dish-sized device under the car itself.
North America significantly dominated the market in 2020 with a burgeoning CAGR of 14.23%. The prevalence of some of the big market players, such as Qualcomm, Energizer, WiTricty, Plugless Power, etc. and the continuously increasing advancements in the automotive sector, consumer electronic products, and medical devices have encouraged a lot of manufacturers to invest heavily in the wireless charging sector. All these pivotal factors are augmenting the overall market growth efficiently in this region.
Key factors to be considered for wireless EV charging:-
a.) Development of various Charging solutions for electric mobility:
In the case of electric mobility, there are various ways to “refill” a vehicle with energy, including battery swapping, battery charging, and hydrogen refuelling. Rosina, the principal analyst for Power Electronics & Batteries at Yole Developpement pointed out that the method of hydrogen refuelling is only used for hydrogen fuel-cell EVs, which represent a very small part of the EV market. In the case of battery swapping, by the usage of a combination of wireless communication and computer vision, the station can figure out the exact location of each battery module that is required to be swapped. The EE times asserted that in 2019, the overall market share of smartphones with wireless charging grew up to 2.7 per cent as compared to 2018, thereby reaching around 18.5 per cent. While this development rate is still positive, the rate of adoption growth slowed as compared to the 5.6 % annual growth from 2017 to 2018.
Conductive charging is one of the most effective methods of wireless charging that involves the connection of a conductor between the charging station &the vehicle. Depending on the cable’s size, the current flows through this wired connection, thus allowing a very high rate of charging capacities. The main advantages that are associated with this type of charging are High power transfer efficiency, Reduced infrastructure costs, the Possibility of high-speed charging (but increasing costs), Lower requirements of maintenance, etc.
b.) Management of Power Transmission:
The power transmission charging is managed in a similar manner to that of the current charging methods by using a wired charger through the electric vehicle’s battery management system. However, even in this case, the charge management can change slightly depending on the various conditions of the power output of the wireless charging device. The LTC4120 wireless power transfer system integrated with PowerbyProxi’s patented DHC technology has the capability to support power transfer of nearly up to 2W at the battery. However, in the case of the single‐cell Li‐ion batteries, the maximum charge voltage can be around 4.2V & along with that, the maximum charge current of 400mA limits this value to up to 1.7Watts.
CONCLUSION:-
EVs are growing rapidly and are expected to dominate electrification in the future, but the range is still a very difficult issue, similar to the issue of government regulations. Wireless charging is much easier & is very much user friendly. However, the wireless charging won’t be faster as compared to AC charging using the car’s onboard charger, which typically ranges from around 11 kW to 20 kW. Thus, it will be a long time until wireless charging can be made a part of the infrastructure and also to ensure that people feel safe doing it. So, to make wireless battery charging accessible for everyone, a network of induction charging stations are required to be created, with the charging plates embedded on the road surfaces. Induction charging while driving can be one of the prime options for e-mobility. The only thing that is for sure today is that the network coverage of the fast-charging stations is gradually expanding & recharging of EVs will become very much easy as the electric charging options continue to evolve.
