https://transportevolved.com/2016/05/13/staff-car-report-our-nissan-leaf-gets-fitted-with-a-wireless-inductive-charging-system-in-the-interests-of-science/
Staff Car Report: Our Nissan LEAF Gets Fitted With A WIRELESS INDUCTIVE
CHARGING SYSTEM IN THE INTERESTS OF SCIENCE
MAY 13, 2016 NIKKI GORDON-BLOOMFIELD
[image
https://transportevolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Transport-Evolved-Wireless-Charging-2-580x411.png
The wireless receiver fits on the underside of the car, and is paired with
the wireless inductive transmitter located on the floor
https://transportevolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Transport-Evolved-Plugless-Power-installation-2-580x387.jpg
At the front of the car, a few extra control cables are interfaced with the
stock wiring
https://transportevolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Transport-Evolved-Plugless-Power-installation-19-580x387.jpg
As the receiver pad is fitted below the trunk area, installation nears
completion
https://transportevolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Transport-Evolved-Plugless-Power-installation-26-580x387.jpg
New diffuser plates are fitted to protect the inductive charging pad
https://transportevolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Transport-Evolved-Plugless-Power-installation-44-700x467.jpg
Its not our best work, but as its temporary, this is what our installation
looks like
https://transportevolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Transport-Evolved-Plugless-Power-installation-47-580x387.jpg
As you approach, a series of arrows guide you in
]
With more than 30 years of collaborative electric car and plug-in vehicle
ownership under our belts here at Transport Evolved, we’d like to think of
ourselves as being pretty well versed in the act of plugging a car in to
recharge it. From our earliest experiences involving standard household
outlets to CHAdeMO DC quick charging and Tesla’s incredibly impressive
Supercharger standard, driving a cleaner, greener car has always involved
plugging a cord in somewhere at the end of a trip to recharge our car’s
on-board battery pack for the next journey.
Although anyone who has owned or driven an electric car for any length of
time will admit that the act of plugging in a car to charge it is a process
that takes just a few seconds, many automakers are investing time and energy
into developing wireless inductive charging systems designed to ensure
people never have to plug their car in to charge.
[image] Inductive charging from mainstream automakers is on the way.
The idea is simple: instead of using an electrically conductive, mechanical
plug and socket to send power from a charging station into an electric car’s
charging system, you use electromagnetism to do the same thing inductively.
And while most inductive charging systems are still very much in the
laboratory test phase right now, wireless inductive charging is something
that automakers like Nissan, Volkswagen and Toyota say we’ll be seeing on
commercial electric cars in the next decade or so. Such systems, we’re told,
will eliminate the fear and worry that some customers have about forgetting
to plug in, make electric cars more appealing to traditional gasoline car
owners, and lead to a future where cars can be dynamically charged while
driving along specially-designed portions of road.
So to see what wireless charging was really like to live with on an everyday
basis — and to see if we, and many electric car owners around the world were
simply missing the point when it came to wireless inductive charging — we
reached out to the folks at Evatran, manufacturer of the Plugless Power
wireless inductive charging system, and asked if we could test a wireless
charging system for six months to see if we were right or wrong about life
with a car that doesn’t plug in.
They agreed, and just over one month ago, we took ‘Micah’ one of our Staff
Nissan LEAFs to be fitted with the Plugless Power inductive charging system.
Today and for the next five months or so, we’re going to bring you regular
updates detailing how the system is working in real life, from how it feels
not to have to plug in to any difficulties or challenges that the system
brings with it.
And at this point, we think it’s worth noting that we’re entering into this
six-month project as complete skeptics of the system. Having driven electric
cars for so many years, plugging in isn’t an issue to us. Moreover, while
the Evatran Plugless Power system claims 90 percent efficiency when compared
to a conductive (plug-in) charging system, we’re curious as to how much
extra power our system will use compared to a traditional electromechanical
charging arrangement.
Evatran currently sells wireless inductive 3.3 kilowatt charging systems for
three different cars — the Nissan LEAF [EV], original Chevrolet Volt [pih]
and the Cadillac ELR [pih] — and is in the process of launching its fourth
inductive charging system, a larger, more powerful 7.2 kilowatt system for
the Tesla Model S [EV]. Each system consists of a wall-mounted control unit,
a floor-mounted wireless power transmitter (which Evatran calls the parking
pad) and a wireless inductive charging receiver that sits on the underside
of the vehicle.
Prices range from $1260 for the Chevrolet Volt compatible unite to $1940 for
the Cadillac ELR system, including installation. Prices for the Tesla Model
S unit have yet to be announced, although Evatran is currently taking
refundable £244 deposits from interested Model S owners.
While technically an aftermarket system, the Evatran Plugless Power system
is designed to work with each vehicle’s existing control circuitry and
on-board connective charger, and can be installed in a few hours at one of
its trained U.S. installation partners (at the moment, while there are some
‘pilot projects’ outside of the U.S. using the Evatran Plugless Power
system, the company is currently focused on expanding its U.S. market).
With each vehicle having its own specific installation ‘kit,’ no extra holes
have to be drilled in the vehicle, no permanent modifications have to be
made, and the car can be returned back to factory specification at any
point.
We should also point out here that since the wireless inductive charging
system exists in tandem with the conductive charging socket on each car, the
Evatran Plugless Power solution makes use of the car’s on-board charger.
This means that any charge timers or pre-conditioning settings continue to
work as they do when plugged in, assuming you’re parked over the inductive
parking pad of course.
Which brings us nicely to the install process.
First up comes a series of phone calls designed to ensure that you’re
getting the right system and have the correct power close by your parking
space. Evatran can arrange an installation service for the wall unit and
charging pad for those who want it permanently installed — or if it’s
located outside — but those with an appropriately-wired garage can opt for
the ‘self-install’ option, which comes in three boxes with the necessary
instructions you’ll need to install the system yourself.
Meanwhile, the car receiver plate — and the electronics that go with it —
must be fitted by one of Evatran’s official installation partners. The
company fully warranties its equipment and says its warranty also covers any
car faults caused by its system. This should give peace of mind to those
worrying about what happens if their car goes wrong and their dealership
gets upset about the aftermarket system.
In our case, installation required a short trip to the Hawthorne Auto Clinic
on Portland’s east side. An independent, locally-owned garage, Hawthorne
Auto clinic has made a name for itself in Portland, Oregon as being a garage
that does everything it can to promote sustainable car ownership. With every
mechanic trained on hybrid and electric car repair, the facility maintains a
number of locally-owned electric vehicles. In fact, it currently serves as
the official service center for the several hundred Think City electric cars
that live in and around the greater PDX area. Why so many? That’s another
story involving Portland General Electric — but it certainly proved Micah
the Nissan LEAF was in good hands.
With one of Evatran’s engineers on hand to assist Hawthorne Auto Clinic’s
staff (they had also installed a similar unit on a PGE fleet vehicle a year
or more ago) we watched as Micah was raised up in the air and the
installation process began.
While the Tesla Model S Plugless Power kit will place the wireless inductive
receiver plate under the front of the car, the Nissan LEAF, Chevrolet Volt
and Cadillac ELR installations place the receiver kit under the rear of the
vehicle, just behind the rear wheels in the space often occupied by a spare
wheel or a fuel tank in an internal combustion engine car.
In the case of the LEAF, that meant the factory-fitted rear underbody
diffuser — a plastic cover designed to improve aerodynamic performance and
therefore fuel efficiency — had to be removed. Since we’ve only got a loaner
system, Hawthorne Auto Clinic gave us the panel and associated fasteners so
we can revert our staff LEAF back to factory specification when it gets
removed in six months’ time.
With the diffuser removed, special brackets were bolted in using existing
bolt holes on the underside of the LEAF and the plate itself was offered up.
Meanwhile, two sets of wires — high voltage and low voltage — were fed from
the rear of the car to the front, where the on-board charger in the 2013
Nissan LEAF resides. Fitted inside the space occupied by the LEAF’s battery
pack, the installation looks clean and professional from underneath and the
modified connections under the hood — including a new magnetic switch to
detect if the charge port door is open or closed — were carefully added
without damage to the car.
With the car installation completed, it was time for us to head back to
Transport Evolved headquarters, where the rest of the Plugless Power system
was waiting. Since we’re only temporarily using the system, we opted for a
DIY install, which we’ll admit isn’t the most sophisticated or aesthetically
pleasing of solutions.
The instructions provided by Evatran to install the system are
straightforward and we had no problems installing the supplied wall-mounting
bracket for the control box on the wall of our garage. meanwhile, the
parking pad — and the shielding pad required for garage floor installations
— were located on the floor underneath the LEAF. Pairing the unit with the
car was fairly straightforward too: luckily, instructions are provided in
the installation guide.
Which brings us to an important point, something we feel is certainly a
weakness of the Evatran system at the current point in time. Right now, the
charging system pairs a single charging pad to a single car. We understand
that will change in the future, but for now it does mean that you can’t
simply park over another identical wireless charging pad and expect your car
to start charging.
In daily operation, the Plugless Power system guides you into position using
a series of arrows on the wall-mounted control unit, but to get the right
location for installation, Evatran recommends you park your car in a
comfortable spot in the garage, then line up the charging pad underneath
according to the instructions in its installation guide.
Once a location has been picked — and you’ve tested its suitability by
driving in and out of the parking spot a few times to practice following the
guidance of the wall unit — you anchor the parking pad to the ground using
three metallic dowels. You’ll need a hammer drill to make the holes they sit
in, but luckily Evatran provides the necessary drill bit — and a template
for drilling the holes — with the installation kit.
With both wall unit and parking pad installed, we finished off our temporary
installation using duct tape along the length of the garage floor to hold
the cabling that leads from the wall unit to the parking pad in place.
Naturally, a permanent installation could use a more aesthetically-pleasing
solution but for test purposes, it should function just perfectly.
So far, use of the system has been trouble-free once correct installation
had been completed. Once the system detects the car approaching the garage,
it exits low-power mode and guides the driver in using its set of
diamond-shaped lights on the front of the unit. Once correctly parked,
simply turn off the car and the unit will either enter timer-delay mode (if
you have a timer enabled in your car) or automatically begin charging.
[© 2016 TRANSPORT EVOLVED]
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