Soon you'll be able to charge your electric BMW wirelessly

[Lenovo1984]

Original Article: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/wireless-charging-here-your-electric-bmw

 

We've seen wireless charging before. Phones have been using the technology for a while now, and it's really convenient. Just set the phone on the charger, wait a while and you'll have power! BMW has introduced a new wireless charging pad that would allow users to park over the pad to begin charging. There would be no messing with cables and other nonsense. Who needs cables? 

 

BMW is releasing this technology for the 530e iPerformance, which charges in about 3.5 hours. The "GroudPad" uses magnetic fields when transferring energy to the "CarPad", the accessory that will be mounted on the underside of the vehicle. 

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The system automatically shuts off when it recognises the car is fully charged, can be used in all weathers and won’t be damaged when you misalign and drive over the middle of it.

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Production will start in July in Germany but will come to the UK and US at a later date, with the final set-up and installation configurations still being tested before it reaches our driveways. 

Looks interesting. I'd be interested in some real-world performance and ease of use testing once it's completely released. What do you think?

[Jtalk4456]

my first thought is wireless charging creates more heat and takes more power, and I can already see the wealth of lawsuits about batteries going bad faster due to wireless charging, or heaven forbid car batteries catching on fire

[dizmo]

4 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

my first thought is wireless charging creates more heat and takes more power, and I can already see the wealth of lawsuits about batteries going bad faster due to wireless charging, or heaven forbid car batteries catching on fire

I'm glad they're making the effort. Without someone trying it and advancing the technology, it'll never get better.

This is how electric cars will really take off. When you can have these simply installed into the floors in apartment buildings, or your house, it takes away a great deal of the "downsides" of electric vehicles. Who knows, if it gets advanced enough in the not-so-distant future we might see strips of them placed at stop lights, helping charge as you wait for your turn to go.

 

I'm pretty sure it won't be unsafe. They can't just release something like that with known faults.

[AntiTrust]

3 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

my first thought is wireless charging creates more heat and takes more power, and I can already see the wealth of lawsuits about batteries going bad faster due to wireless charging, or heaven forbid car batteries catching on fire

yeah but if you are rich enough to drive and use one of these you probably wont care about a shorter lifespan. 

 

sort of like when I naively asked a multimillionaire if he was worried that the TV he mounted outside his beach house would die sooner. He gave me a funny look and said "I'll just get another one"

 

 

[dcgreen2k]

But... It's way less efficient than just using a plug-in style charger. Only the best for those who can afford it, I guess.

[Jtalk4456]

8 minutes ago, dizmo said:

we might see strips of them placed at stop lights, helping charge as you wait for your turn to go.

Not gonna happen because this will mean the government will be paying for our trips partially, which means tax hikes

[Misanthrope]

Oh look, a landmine.

[Beskamir]

Awesome except wireless charging is really wasteful

[dizmo]

15 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

Not gonna happen because this will mean the government will be paying for our trips partially, which means tax hikes

Not necessarily. Also, who knows what the future will bring.

I'm sure if you asked people in the 70's, they wouldn't have thought we'd be carrying what to them would be super computers in our pockets, allowing access to the knowledge of the entire planet

[Christophe Corazza]

Wasn't Apple also working on an electric car?

I can't see having to buy a different wireless charger for every different brand of car.

[Beskamir]

1 minute ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

91~93% efficiency is really wasteful?

I'm basing my opinion on this... if it's wrong then I'm gonna change my opinion but even if it's 99% as efficient as running it over a wire you're still wasting energy and on a large scale could add up to a meaningful amount.

[Jtalk4456]

20 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Not necessarily. Also, who knows what the future will bring.

I'm sure if you asked people in the 70's, they wouldn't have thought we'd be carrying what to them would be super computers in our pockets, allowing access to the knowledge of the entire planet

I get your point about the future being different, but there's no population that collectively wants taxes to go up, past present or future. Money is going to stop your idea. It's a nice thought though, and I'd be all for it

[Clanscorpia]

34 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

 but there's no population that collectively wants taxes to go up, past present or future

Hahahahahahahahaha....

hahahahaha

I can name 5 people off the top of my head that would gladly raise taxes just for something like that

[Jtalk4456]

10 minutes ago, Clanscorpia said:

Hahahahahahahahaha....

hahahahaha

I can name 5 people off the top of my head that would gladly raise taxes just for something like that

5 people sure, and id be willing as well, but tell the whole population barely staying above or not even making it to the poverty line that their taxes will go up to help people with expensive cars afford charging pads on the road, see if you can get voted into office with that tax plan

 

[Christophe Corazza]

On 9/6/2018 at 1:27 AM, Jtalk4456 said:

5 people sure, and id be willing as well, but tell the whole population barely staying above or not even making it to the poverty line that their taxes will go up to help people with expensive cars afford charging pads on the road, see if you can get voted into office with that tax plan

 

In belgium, the government gave high subsidies for people who wanted to install solar panels on the roof of their house. This measure was so popular that the government seriously underestimated the number of people who applied for these subsidies. Now there is a discussion about how they are going to pay all these subsidies... and one of the options is via taxes. Obviously, not everyone is happy with this idea of paying taxes for another ones solar panel (and thus also indirectly his energy).

[Blademaster91]

3 hours ago, AntiTrust said:

yeah but if you are rich enough to drive and use one of these you probably wont care about a shorter lifespan. 

 

sort of like when I naively asked a multimillionaire if he was worried that the TV he mounted outside his beach house would die sooner. He gave me a funny look and said "I'll just get another one"

Wow lmao, i'd think a millionaire would care more about their money. I mean most rich people stay rich by not throwing money away.

The technology is cool that it can be implemented into car charging, but this car being a BMW the wireless charging would probably break.

2 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

That's exactly the point: WiTricity is based on magnetic resonance instead of magnetic induction (most phone chargers, for example). It's much more efficient (91~93% for cars) than induction charging (60~70% for phones, if perfectly aligned).

 

Are you wasting energy, when comparing to wires? Yes.

Does it reduce the amount of chargers and wires that are produced/transported/sold/discarded, polluting less and reducing costs? Yes.

Being a bit less efficient and saving up other costs on other stuff, that may add to something much greater, is worth.

A loss of 9% is still really wasteful instead of just plugging in a wire, but I don't see how a more complicated charging system that will probably fail sooner from things like being ran over a bunch of times will reduce costs.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Blademaster91

[EPENEX]

I've never used wireless charging, but I don't object to it. While it is less efficient, if it's being charged by solar, water or wind, does it really matter?

[crystal6tak]

2 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

That's exactly the point: WiTricity is based on magnetic resonance instead of magnetic induction (most phone chargers, for example). It's much more efficient (91~93% for cars) than induction charging (60~70% for phones, if perfectly aligned).

 

Are you wasting energy, when comparing to wires? Yes.

Does it reduce the amount of chargers and wires that are produced/transported/sold/discarded, polluting less and reducing costs? Yes.

Being a bit less efficient and saving up other costs on other stuff, that may add to something much greater, is worth.

Forgive me for being uninformed, but if this is the case, why aren't phone chargers using magnetic resonance then?

[Guest]

On 6/9/2018 at 10:22 AM, Christophe Corazza said:

Wasn't Apple also working on an electric car?

I can't see having to buy a different wireless charger for every different brand of car.

Apple have had a few minor setbacks. The car is very hard to drive without Windows. 

 

Just kidding  They are still working on it. To my knowledge there is currently a universal electric chargers, so the public can use the free chargers in town, for example. I imagine this one either comes with the car or is more like a kit. 

[Starelementpoke]

Now, hear me out on this:

[Kamina]

I don't see the point. Still have to have the wireless charger plugged in. Save 2 seconds of your life, maybe?

[pzspah]

 in the future people will halt at STOP signs to receive free charging 

[AskTJ]

Or you can get a car that runs on diesel for around 50 times cheaper and call it a day.

[cj09beira]

11 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

That's exactly the point: WiTricity is based on magnetic resonance instead of magnetic induction (most phone chargers, for example). It's much more efficient (91~93% for cars) than induction charging (60~70% for phones, if perfectly aligned).

 

Are you wasting energy, when comparing to wires? Yes.

Does it reduce the amount of chargers and wires that are produced/transported/sold/discarded, polluting less and reducing costs? Yes.

Being a bit less efficient and saving up other costs on other stuff, that may add to something much greater, is worth.

pretty sure you will still need a lot of copper to serve as a antenna, which means you will not be polluting less 

[mr moose]

On 6/9/2018 at 8:40 AM, Jtalk4456 said:

I get your point about the future being different, but there's no population that collectively wants taxes to go up, past present or future. Money is going to stop your idea. It's a nice thought though, and I'd be all for it

20th century thinking about energy and money will stop the idea,  however 21st century thinking where resources are decentralized and financial wealth is not calculated in the same traditional way suggests other things are possible. 

 

I see batteries (or even whole electric cars for that matter) as a stop gap measure.  May as well enjoy wireless charging if it works.  Because with the rate technology is advancing it is not likely to have an impact so large that it will prevent other technologies or  ruin the environment any more.