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The first factory-genuine wireless charger widely available in the US may come not from Tesla or any of the Chinese EV makers, but from Stellantis.
While unveiling his Ram electric truck concept last week, Ram hinted at the middle stage of a future inductive charging robot.
“We know from our Real Talk tours that our customers care not only how long the charge will last on the road, but also how easy it is to charge,” said Ram CEO Mike Koval. “And with our upcoming new inductive robot charger, or Ram Charger, that will make charging at home as easy as it can be.”
Koval confirmed to Green Car Reports that the charging robot is a production-bound feature, though it’s still in development.
Right now, Stellantis doesn’t have a single EV for the US, so the inductive charging robot is a nice surprise as a technological leap.
The robot, developed by EFI Automotive, intelligently detects the need for a vehicle’s charging, moves to a charging station wherever it is in the garage, and will choose an off-peak time to charge whenever possible.
Wireless might be a potentially confusing word to use in this case, while an inductive charger charges wirelessly, it connects to the wallbox base station via a cable. As the video below shows, the robotic charger leaves the wires as traces of their path to an ideal spot under the vehicle, possibly reversing their path after charging to keep the cables under control.
The system has been developed over the past five years, according to EFI, with intelligence from robotics subsidiary Akeoplus. It uses AI to move autonomously to the vehicle’s position, avoiding obstacles along the way, and stopping if motion is detected. EFI says that some vehicles can be filled by robots, as they have a range (limited to cables) of up to 32.8 feet.
The robot is arranged in a way that completely eliminates the handling of wires for the owner, and the charger is suitable for light and commercial vehicles, and in home or business applications.
There is no physical connection to carry current from the charger to the vehicle. In inductive wireless charging, a current is induced in a coil of copper wire, creating an oscillating magnetic field, which is then captured by another copper coil and converted back into energy.
One of the main aspects of this application is that once the robot is in place, it lifts the disc-shaped inductive pads upwards to make contact with the receiving pads. The company claims that the inductive charging technology in the robot achieves 97% efficiency, better than inductive charging systems which maintain an air gap.
Ram Revolution EV concept with inductive charger
EFI also claims that using an inductive charger can increase a vehicle’s battery life by up to 15%, although it does not say whether this is related to charging power, charging habits, or a combination of the two.
As of now, the robot is being developed for 7 kw of charging power, and in the literature distributed for CES, the company says it will start production in 2025 — the same year it expects the extended-range Ram, based on hints that it might follow the fully electric Ram by about one year.
Robotic inductive Ram Charger for future Ram EVs
Charging robots solve one of the problems with inductive charging, especially in the home, in that once the charging pad is in place, the vehicle must be parked in a way that is perfectly aligned (a few inches or so) with the pad. If a bicycle or anything else in the garage blocks the way and the vehicle has to park in a different position, the charge cannot be utilized.
Wireless charging technology could be a game changer for electric vehicles, making them more livable every day and increasing the chances that plug-in hybrid (or remote EV) owners will actually install one.
Ram Revolution EV concept with inductive charger
That may be what Ram is betting on, especially with the added confirmation that an extended-range Ram EV is on the way
To date, no US models have offered a factory wireless charging setup. However, the Genesis GV60 offers factory integration in its home market of South Korea, and the technology has already been adopted in several Chinese-market EVs from Hongqi and IM Motors, and in the Alibaba-backed Zhiji L7.
In the US, BMW has already tested the technology with its 5 Series plug-in hybrid in a small pilot program, and there are various aftermarket arrangements that allow owners to customize their vehicle — for a few thousand dollars.
Ford has developed an automated charging system with researchers in Germany, pointing to potential future use by the robotaxi fleet, although the system uses a vehicle-ready robotic arm and charging ports of varying heights. Chinese company AIWays has demonstrated a robotic attendant called CARL that can be summoned by an app to deliver payloads.
There’s also the Tesla snake charger, which bends and wriggles from near the floor to the charging port and plugs in. It hadn’t progressed past the concept stage, and at the time it was teased, back in 2015, CEO Elon Musk said that it was “for realz.” Until recently, this was not “realz.”
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