5 interesting innovations in electric car charging

Electric vehicles are very attractive means of transport due to their environmental benefits as well as lower operating costs. The method of charging electric vehicles is also evolving. Here are five exciting innovations in electric car charging:

Vehicle to grid (V2G)

Vehicle-to-grid charging allows energy stored in the vehicle’s battery to be exported to the grid when the demand is high. Electric car drivers are becoming so-called “prosumers” – both consumers and suppliers of electricity.

Wireless charging

Wireless charging of vehicles works pretty much like wireless phone charging. Electricity is transferred from one magnetic coil in the charger, which is hidden under the road surface, to another magnetic coil or pad mounted on the underside of the vehicle. One of the main advantages of wireless charging is that it allows multiple vehicles to be charged at once.

Ultra-fast charging

While a petrol or diesel car takes only a few minutes to be filled, electric car drivers usually have to wait much longer for the batteries to recharge. However, ultra-fast charging options are beginning to appear, which seems to be a real benefit for longer journeys as the charging time can be reduced to as long as it takes to have a regular break from driving.

Pull-out and lamp chargers

Urban Electric Networks from London has developed a UEone street charger that slides into the ground when not in use. It can be activated remotely with a mobile app. The company has already tested six fast chargers in Oxford between 2019 and 2020, and they turned out to be a great success.

Another British company, Char.gy, has secured funding to install socket points on street lamps throughout London. According to Char.gy, a standard lamp using LED bulbs will have about 24 amps of excess electricity that can be used to charge cars, providing about 20 miles of driving for every hour of charging.

Electrified roads

Electrified roads use overhead power lines to charge larger electric vehicles such as trucks. The world’s first electrified road that recharges the batteries of cars and trucks while driving has been in operation in Sweden since 2018. The concept works by transferring electricity from two rails to the road using a movable arm attached to the underside of a car or truck.

Which of the presented solutions did you like most? Let us know what your point is.