Friday, March 25, 2011

Cool Technology of the Week

As a Prius driver since 2005, I've closely watched the evolution of hybrid vehicles.   The FY10 Prius included an optional solar powered cooling system.   The FY11 Prius offers a plug in option to charge the batteries from household current overnight.

This week, Google installed a wireless induction unit at its Mountain View headquarters to charge a specially equipped Prius.

The charging system is a prototype product from Plugless Power which works on the principle of electromagnetic induction.  A coil in the charging station is connected to an electrical source and another coil is placed in the Prius.  Electric current flowing through a primary coil creates a magnetic field that acts on the secondary coil producing a current within it, charging the Prius battery.

A Prius driver parks the car near a charging station.  A paddle on the charging station moves to align the two coils and charging begins.   The end result is a fully charged battery without wires.

A zero emission vehicle with automatic charging in your parking space.

That's cool!
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4 comments:

  1. domMarch 25, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    everybody goes crazy about wireless power transfer, but because of its efficiency is so terrible, it especially doesn't make sense on a product which touts efficiency and reduced energy usage.

    it would be simpler, cheaper, and (most importantly) more energy-effective to engineer a charging station which automatically connects via physical link.

    inductive charging is cool, especially on that scale, but not if you're trying to be green!

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  2. AnonymousMarch 25, 2011 at 7:41 AM

    If your concern is to save energy, I would think this is terribly inefficient.

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  3. domMarch 25, 2011 at 7:43 AM

    try this on for size: http://www.gizmag.com/3d-thin-film-batteries-recharge-in-minutes/18187/

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  4. AnonymousMarch 27, 2011 at 6:22 PM

    I am concerned with overblowing things out of proportion re: plug-in hybrids.
    Adding extra demand on US power grid will likely to be covered mostly by coal-generated electricity. Therefore plug-in Prius or Chevy Volt will run mostly on coal.

    http://www.autonews.com/article/20110323/BLOG06/303239769/1503
    rs

    We are paying $25,000 extra to upgrade Chevy Cruze with a battery and electric motors to Volt, while extra electric bill will be comparable with saved gasoline cost.

    http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/audi-president-chevy-volt-is-a-car-for-idiots/

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