Volvo Cars, a Swedish automaker, announced that it is evaluating the possibility of Volvo’s wireless electric vehicle charging technology in a live metropolitan setting. Over the next three years, the stations in Gothenburg, Sweden, will enable wireless charging to Volvo XC40 Recharge EVs operated by taxi business Cabonline.
Volvo Electric Cars
Volvo Cars Corp., based in Torslanda, Sweden, is a global carmaker owned by the Chinese company Geely Holding Group. Volvo has made significant progress toward electrification and carbon neutrality throughout its various marques and manufacturing processes in recent years, pledging to be a fully electric brand by 2030.
Volvo Cars has started putting the required manufacturing infrastructure in place to support these electrification aspirations, announcing plans to build a 50 GWh battery facility in Torslanda with the cooperation of battery cell company Northvolt for SEK 30 billion ($3.28 billion).
Volvo announced plans to invest an additional SEK 10 billion ($1.09 billion) in its Torslanda manufacturing plant to support modern manufacturing processes such as massive casting of aluminium body parts and a new battery assembly facility earlier this month.
Volvo’s Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging
Future Volvo EVs, as well as current EVs on the market, such as the XC40 Recharge, will be built at these new facilities, and will be used in Volvo’s wireless charging trials.
Cabonline will run a small fleet of XC40 Recharge EVs and test wireless charging technologies as part of the Gothenburg Green City Zone effort, a multi-project initiative that uses specified regions of the city as living test beds for the development of sustainable technology.
Volvo Cars’ Head of R&D, Mats Moberg, commented:
Gothenburg Green City Zone lets us try exciting new technologies in a real environment and evaluate them over time for a potential future broader introduction. Testing new charging technologies together with selected partners is a good way to evaluate alternative charging options for our future cars.
Momentum Dynamics, a producer of wireless electric charging solutions we’ve previously covered, provided the charging stations for this testing program, collaborating with companies like GreenPower Motor Co.
Volvo’s Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (Source: Volvo Cars)
When an EV parks over a charging pad embedded in the street, the wireless charging begins instantly. The charging station below then sends electricity through the charging pad, which is detected by an EV’s receiver unit.
Volvo claims that the wireless chargers for the XC40 Recharge EVs will deliver more than 40 kW of power, which is nearly four times faster than a wired 11 kW AC charger and close to a wired 50 kW DC fast charger.
The Volvo branded cabs will run for 12 hours a day, driving 100,000 kilometers (62,100 miles) each year as part of the wireless charging trial. As a result, Volvo Cars will use this program as the first time it will test the durability of its electric vehicles in a business setting.
In the video below, you can discover more about Volvo Cars’ wireless charging technology and the Gothenburg Green City Zone testing:
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