Kia Motors and Mojo Mobility have been awarded a funding grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies (VT) program to research and develop a system capable of fast charging an electric vehicle wirelessly. While Mojo Mobility’s existing product line covers wireless charging of mobile gizmos (cell phones, etc) they have developed technology for 20 kiloWatt charging through a wireless connection.
The teams will develop the fast wireless charging technology using a fleet of Kia Soul EV’s. Engineers will be HQ’d at the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc. in Superior Twp., Michigan, and Mojo Mobility
in Santa Clara, California.
The goal is a fast charging system, that connects wirelessly. The first phase is expected to demonstrate more than 85 percent grid-to-vehicle efficiency while charging at over 10 kW. That’s not quite fast charging, though it’s much faster than the 6 kW charging rate we typically get. The second phase will bump the efficiency to 92%, and the third phase will gather real world performance data and test the systems’ durability, interoperability, safety, and performance.
The Mojo Mobility system uses what they call “Near Field Power” technology. Basically, wireless charging involves a sending unit – and a receiving unit. Typically both are coils of wire, and you can think of this as the two halves of a transformer separated by a distance.
One goal in this project is to support misalignment between transmitter and receiver – meaning, it will accommodate variations in parking, rather than forcing the driver to park the vehicle precisely over the transmitter.
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