A small power transmission prototype for electric vehicle wireless battery charge applications

In this paper a low cost prototype of wireless power transfer system based on air coupling is presented. The system here proposed can be useful for electric vehicle (EV) battery charging systems. It consists mainly of two copper wire coils, placed one in front of the other on the same axis. The inductor coil can easily be placed under the road surface (in a parking), while the other (the receiver coil) in the lower side of the vehicle. By exploiting the coils resonance coupling effect, electric energy can be transferred from the inductor coil to the receiver in order to charge the batteries. Low cost experimental tests carried out at DIEETCAM - University of Palermo, demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed wireless power transfer prototype, being it capable to reach an efficiency of about 80% and more along a distance of 30 cm.