Recharging without cables: the road ahead for electric cars

"As far as electronics are concerned, we've developed 99 percent of its full potential and we have what is needed to produce an efficient wireless charging station"

Electric vehicles are undoubtedly a form of transport with a future, but many technical challenges have to be overcome before they replace petrol and diesel-fuelled cars.

Researchers in Zaragoza in northern Spain are working on resolving one of the biggest problems; how to efficiently recharge batteries.

The scientists involved in the EU-supported Unplugged project have developed an innovative wireless charging station for electric vehicles. Unlike other systems it can charge electric cars or vans in around 20 minutes.

Lourdes García, an industrial engineer with Endesa, said the position of the coils is key: “The system works with coils that are buried under the tarmac of the charging station. It’s use inductive technology. The coil is energized from the electric grid. When the vehicle is positioned correctly on the charging station, a connection is made between the coils and the car. The coils transfer energy to the car. It’s a very flexible, modular system. You can charge cars, vans or electric buses”.

Researchers say the method is easier, safer, more vandalism-proof and has less visual impact than charging with cables.

José Francisco Sanz Osorio, an industrial engineer with the Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption said they are now turning to industry to help complete the testing: “As far as electronics are concerned, we’ve developed 99 percent of its full potential and we have what is needed to produce an efficient wireless charging station.

“The remaining work concerns coils; that is where we are lagging behind. We need to find coil manufacturers interested in this product. But these coils are so innovative, that it is still hard to find those manufacturers,” he said.

The project also aims to convince the public of the benefits of electric vehicles.

But firstly, there were major technical challenges to overcome, as Axel Barkow, an electronics engineer and project coordinator explained: “First on the level of communication, that is, how to make operable the communication between the car and the infrastructure. “Then on the level of energy transmission. That is: How can a 3,7 KW car be charged at a 50 KW charging station. And finally we were addressing the problem of positioning, because positioning the car correctly – that means positioning the coils under the station in line with those on the car. That has a big impact on charging efficiency.”

So how can drivers get the full potential of this technology?

The answer lies in developing a system that assists drivers to position their cars exactly over the charging coils, so no energy is wasted. Barkow’s colleague Jörg Küfen said their solution involves magnetic fields, optics systems and algorithms: “At the end of the project we’re now at a point where we can say, that with a camera and a radio frequency identification (RFID) support system we can enable a driver to approach the inductive charging system in the correct way.”

More research is needed to increase the charging station’s potential and to optimise its operability, according to José Francisco Sanz Osorio: “We’re working at a given frequency, but in other countries they can be working with a different frequency. So we need to harmonize those frequencies. We also need to agree on the size of the coils, on the distances of electric emissions. All this is needed for the system to be fully interoperable”.

“I think as far as cars are concerned we are very close to a serial production, said Barkow. “That is, I think, we will see cars that are equipped with this technology within the next one or two years”.

The next big issue, researchers say, is how to develop a dynamic charging system, that will allow vehicles to be charged on the move on motorways and streets.

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‘Very important to remember it was shared victory’ – top Russian diplomat ahead of WW2 anniversary

Attempts to falsify and rewrite the history of World War II are a dangerous path, a top Russian diplomat has warned, stressing that it is important to remember that the victory belongs to all the allies who fought Nazism.
As the world is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of the bloodiest conflict in human history this year, radical elements in some countries are trying to bring the ideologies that were fought against back to life, Russian Foreign Ministry’s representative for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Konstantin Dolgov, told RT in an interview on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately the Neo-Nazis feel more than comfortable in Ukraine and this fact is extremely dangerous as it destabilizes the situation in the country,”
Dolgov said.

The diplomat stressed that these processes had been ongoing for a long time, adding that “extremism, terrorism and neo-Nazism as an extreme form of extremism have no national borders. And it is easy for them to trespass from one county to another. So the threat is common.”
Dolgov noted that certain forces in the West are currently attempting to diminish Russia’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in WWII, falsifying facts and heroizing the Nazis and their accomplices.
“The reasons behind this trend are simply political. It is a systematic, regular and a very dangerous path that many have chosen - to falsify the history of WWII, to diminish the conclusive role of the Soviet Union. It is very important to remember that it was a shared victory, we were all on the same side back then,”
said the official adding that it must not be forgotten that the USSR paid the highest price in the war, both in human lives and material costs.
Dolgov’s statements echo the words of President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly denounced attempts to ‘rewrite’ WWII history and noted that the forces behind such attempts seek to use historical speculation in geopolitical games and set entire countries and peoples against each other.

In January, Putin said in a public speech that the people attempting to rewrite history and hide the crimes of Nazism are often attempting to deflect attention from their nations’ collaboration with Hitler.
“Direct attempts to silence history, to distort and rewrite history are inadmissible and immoral. Behind these attempts often lies the desire to hide one’s own disgrace, the disgrace of cowardice, hypocrisy and treachery, the intent to justify the direct or indirect collaboration with Nazism,”
the Russian president stated at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow at an event dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War II, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has published a report: “Neo-Nazism – a dangerous threat to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”

Dolgov stressed that one of the aims of the report is to raise awareness of the rise of neo-Nazi ideology and call for other countries to find ways to battle the trend.
“This report is just a milestone in the overall work that is being done, and not only by Russia but by other bodies including human rights groups and other public organizations. We hope that the report will be an additional factor in changing people’s perception of what’s going on,”
he concluded.


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