Volvo Cars is currently testing a new wireless charging technology on a small fleet of pure electric XC40 Recharge cars in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Cabonline, the largest taxi operator in the Nordic region, is trialling the fleet for three years by charging the EVs wirelessly at stations across the city.
The charging stations have been supplied by Momentum Dynamics. All a driver has to do is park their vehicle over the charging pad in the street and the charging will begin automatically.
The charging station sends energy through the charging pad, which is picked up by a receiver unit in the car. Wireless charging power is more than 40kW, which is four times faster than a wired 11kW AC charger.
During testing, the XC40 cars will be used for more than 12 hours a day and drive 100,000km a year, making this the first durability test of fully electric Volvo cars in a commercial usage scenario.
This is just one of many projects taking place in the Gothenburg Green City Zone – a zone to test the development of sustainable technologies.
“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,” said Mats Moberg, head of research and development at Volvo Cars.
“Testing new charging technologies together with selected partners is a good way to evaluate alternative charging options for our future cars.”
Other firms involved in the project include Swedish retailers Volvo Bil and Volvo Car Sörred, Swedish energy company Vattenfall and its charging network InCharge, the city energy company Göteborg Energi, and Business Region Gothenburg, a municipal economic development agency owned by the City of Gothenburg.