Renault, Qualcomm team up on Halo wireless electric vehicle charging

 

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Posted on 25 Jul 2012 at 10:41, by Gareth Halfacree

Renault and Qualcomm have formally announced their cooperation on making the charging of electric vehicles easier, working to implement Qualcomm's Halo Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) technology into future Renault cars and vans.

Originally announced back in November last year, Qualcomm is currently planning a London-based trial of the wireless charging technology which allows electric cars to be charged simply by being parked. Unlike traditional wired solutions, Halo works by coupling a power transmitter in a parking space, driveway or even in the road with a receiver built into the vehicle.

Although Halo requires a compatible vehicle, its advantages are obvious: fitted to an office car park, a Halo-equipped parking space will keep a commuter's battery topped up while he or she is at work; fitted to a home driveway, and the car charges overnight - without the driver having to remember to plug it in, or needing to find room for a bulky rapid-charge point.

A clever standard is nothing without the cooperation of a vehicle manufacturer, however - and Renault's agreement with Qualcomm to be part of the study is a major boost for the Halo project and WEVC technology as a whole.

"We are very excited to be working with Renault, a global leader in Electric Vehicles and an innovator in the growing low carbon vehicle market", claimed Qualcomm's Anthony Thomson at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two companies. "Renault's participation in the WEVC London trial and Qualcomm's drive to make charging of electric vehicles simple and effortless means that EV drivers will have access to technology that makes EV charging easy."

"Our participation in the WEVC London trial with Qualcomm complements Renault's European research & development project involving 10 partners to demonstrate wireless inductive charging of electric vehicles in a public environment with a high level of performance and safety", added Renault's Jacques Hebrard, vice president and energy and environment advanced projects director. "The deployment of wireless inductive charging requires inter-operability between cars and ground systems within common European and, hopefully, worldwide standards."