Cybertruck Wireless Charging?

[Dids]

wow... i had no idea. Thats terrifying! Do you think they'll make that robotic snake charger available for the public? Or will it just be in future robotaxi hubs?

I don't know anything anyone else doesn't know. I believe that automatic charging will be contact charging and not induction based. Tesla claims the snake is coming. Electrify America is getting an arm robot and vw has a butler concept. All 3 of these approaches seems more reasonable to me then adding an additional port or receivor coil.

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[Dids]

...And a robotic arm is moving parts and a coil doesn't move.

-Crissa

It will have to either have the car side move to optimize position or the pad will have to. Resonance requires that the negative side of the antenna and the positive side have equal voltage.
And I imagine that a intrusion shroud would be used for safety so that would have to extend.

 

[Firetruck41]

I am sure there will be a wireless charging pad in the truck for a phone. If not I'll just install a wireless charging mount like in all my other vehicles, for a grand total of about 40 bucks.

As far as a wireless charger for the vehicle battery, my current Leaf takes me 5 seconds to plug it in, and I can park in three different spots and still charge. I'm not interested in adding the complexity of a wireless charger, the cost of a wireless charger, the lower efficiency of a wireless charger, and limiting where I park my vehicle.

 

[ajdelange]

wow... i had no idea. Thats terrifying!

Were it true it would be terrifying. People don't explode during MRI scans and they won't explode if exposed to the fields from a wireless charger - unless they have metallic prostheses (either case).

While I'm at it, the coils are not simple wire loops. They are part of high Q tank circuits. Nor do they weigh a lot. Nor is it necessary to be precisely centered (but as pointed out in No. 33 you have lots more flexibility with plug in).

This is the CT forum but it is still part of the internet and you will see outrageous statements made here as much as in other parts. While you would need to know some engineering to understand why the coils are not heavy and why they are not simple common sense should tell you they aren't dangerous. They must comply with various standards (including NEC) and these standards meticulously protect against hazards from equipment installed where people have access.

 

[Dids]

Were it true it would be terrifying. People don't explode during MRI scans and they won't explode if exposed to the fields from a wireless charger - unless they have metallic prostheses (either case).

While I'm at it, the coils are not simple wire loops. They are part of high Q tank circuits. Nor do they weigh a lot. Nor is it necessary to be precisely centered (but as pointed out in No. 33 you have lots more flexibility with plug in).

This is the CT forum but it is still part of the internet and you will see outrageous statements made here as much as in other parts. While you would need to know some engineering to understand why the coils are not heavy and why they are not simple common sense should tell you they aren't dangerous. They must comply with various standards (including NEC) and these standards meticulously protect against hazards from equipment installed where people have access.

Thats low... taking something someone said, changing it then calling it untrue. I never said anything about an explosion. But you can't see the posts I make because in your bubble I am too much. In other words... you can't handle the truth.
In fact MRI machine which have huge coils also have a large exclusion zone inside a shielded room. They run a frequency of 300mhz to 1 ghz with a pulsed output typically lasting about 10 seconds at very high field strength. They also have a trained professional operator. So I don't think they are a great analogy to wireless power which runs a much lower freq... 300 kHz or so, runs continuously and much lower field strength.
But! They would not be watched by a professional operator in an exclusion room. Can they make it safe? Of course. Will it be worth it? I don't think so... because they have issues.
1. The receiver coil needs significant wire for high power transmission. Somewhere in the range of 200+ lbs.
2. The air gap can not allow a mouse, trash, leaf to blow into it. Or baby...

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I am sure there will be a wireless charging pad in the truck for a phone. If not I'll just install a wireless charging mount like in all my other vehicles, for a grand total of about 40 bucks.

As far as a wireless charger for the vehicle battery, my current Leaf takes me 5 seconds to plug it in, and I can park in three different spots and still charge. I'm not interested in adding the complexity of a wireless charger, the cost of a wireless charger, the lower efficiency of a wireless charger, and limiting where I park my vehicle.

We already have a Tesla charger for the M3 so the M3 gets the spot closest to the garage. Period. For me to install a charger for CT (which will happen) it will have to be on the other side of our driveway, so a new portion of the driveway will be required one way or another. That said, I would prefer a cable over anything else, for these reasons: (1) it is easy, (2) it is a mature technology, (3) it is available, and (4) it is a simple technology. The snake, when deployed, will be primarily for robotaxis and for a long time will not be available to us Joes. It will be expensive, complicated, and expensive to install. It will be a perfect target for vandals. And anything beyond that, like contact or contactless charging, is even further out. So, fun discussion, but not practical in the 5-year timeframe.

 

[Hunter Sawyer]

hmmm theres an idea! you think that granite countertop dashboard opens up in more ways than the glove compartment? ?

No I mean the arm rest console that folds down. It opens up as a compartment to stow away papers and what not. 90% of trucks have this.

 

[ajdelange]

Ordinarily I don't respond to the sillier claims made in these forums because it is pointless but I did get curious as to what a receiver coil might actually weigh. The PlugLess unit's car mounted component (receiver coil) weighs 35 lbs. This is a 7.5 kW system.

 

[Dids]

Ordinarily I don't respond to the sillier claims made in these forums because it is pointless but I did get curious as to what a receiver coil might actually weigh. The PlugLess unit's car mounted component (receiver coil) weighs 35 lbs. This is a 7.5 kW system.

You know they are out of business since 2017? Do you want to know why? Because that 7.5 kw system was a lie. The highest rate gen 1 system ever got to was 3.3kw at ~ 85% efficiency with the efficiency going down as power level was raised. The extra power went into heat mostly on the receiver side. So as power level went up, efficiency went down and heat quickly rose. The only way to overcome the issue is a heavier receiver coil. So no... its not at all a silly claim that a high power transformer is heavy.

 

[ajdelange]

I don't know if anyone is really interested in this wire less charging. Some may be but I'm certainly not going to be in the front of the line. Status at the moment seems to be that SAE has issued a standard (J 2954) covering it largely pushed by WiTricity who seem to "own" the tech. They aren't manufacturing anything at the moment but have some sort of licensing deal with Delta (Thailand). Panasonic announced their version at CES this year. It's good up to 15 kW but note that the J2954 covers only up to 11. So I expect we will see some units on the retail market pretty soon. But I just can't see it really catching on except for fleet operators. It requires adding a "pad" to the car which while it certainly won't weigh anything near 200 lbs will weight up to 50 lbs and in a BEV where every pound counts that's something. The technology is basically a Tesla coil followed by a rectifier which means that it connects directly to the battery and, as such, a custom design is required for each model of car on which it is to be installed. This, in turn, implies cooperation of the OEMs who are, quite rightly, nervous about whom they allow to fiddle around in their high voltage DC circuitry,

Again this may be appealing to a fleet operator but it isn't very appealing to me. But it is interesting tech.

 

[Crissa]

I don't think this touches the DC circuitry.

-Crissa

 

[Dids]

I think we have a different definition of high power and use case. When I say high power I mean the use case where it replaces rapid charger, the same place where a robotic arm would be used.... if a self driving fleet of robo taxis is the place for wireless charging a technology that allows (being generous) 40 miles an hour of charge isnt gonna be a win....

 

[Crissa]

No one is suggesting it replace a DC charger.

If you're able to charge effortlessly, then the speed that it charges at is less important.

-Crissa

 

[Tinker71]

I don't know anything anyone else doesn't know. I believe that automatic charging will be contact charging and not induction based. Tesla claims the snake is coming. Electrify America is getting an arm robot and vw has a butler concept. All 3 of these approaches seems more reasonable to me then adding an additional port or receivor coil.

Yes - someone needs to work on a robotic charging arm over the induction charger. If you have 2 EVs in your garage you probably won't be charging both at the same time on 2 separate chargers. and may want to switch over to the other during the night or early AM. Heck I have a couple kids in college and a teen around so 5 vehicles in the driveway/garage sometimes. Also while my CT will fit in my garage with 3 feet to spare there is isn't room to walk behind it.

 

[ReddykwRun]

I don't know if anyone is really interested in this wire less charging. Some may be but I'm certainly not going to be in the front of the line. Status at the moment seems to be that SAE has issued a standard (J 2954) covering it largely pushed by WiTricity who seem to "own" the tech. They aren't manufacturing anything at the moment but have some sort of licensing deal with Delta (Thailand). Panasonic announced their version at CES this year. It's good up to 15 kW but note that the J2954 covers only up to 11. So I expect we will see some units on the retail market pretty soon. But I just can't see it really catching on except for fleet operators. It requires adding a "pad" to the car which while it certainly won't weigh anything near 200 lbs will weight up to 50 lbs and in a BEV where every pound counts that's something. The technology is basically a Tesla coil followed by a rectifier which means that it connects directly to the battery and, as such, a custom design is required for each model of car on which it is to be installed. This, in turn, implies cooperation of the OEMs who are, quite rightly, nervous about whom they allow to fiddle around in their high voltage DC circuitry,

Again this may be appealing to a fleet operator but it isn't very appealing to me. But it is interesting tech.

Interesting note to consider:

Look Up: Rebecca (Hough) Tinucci, fomerly with Plugless Power but now working at TESLA in the Global SuperCharging Division. Now employed as

Rebecca Tinucci
Head of Global Supercharging at Tesla
San Francisco, California

Prior to moving to Tesla she and her dad worked together at Evatran/Plugless Power.


Wireless Charging in TESLA - https://www.pluglesspower.com/learn-about-plugless-2/