Audi working on wireless charging with WiTricity technology
By Sebastian Blanco RSS feed
Posted Feb 29th 2012 7:52PM

...the inductive charging system could one day be standard on "plug-in" Audi vehicles and would include technology from the Boston-area-based WiTricity Corporation. Officially called "Audi wireless charging" (no points for creativity, there), electricity is sent from a coil in the concrete to one in the car thanks to an alternating magnetic field that is only activated by the vehicle driving into position. Thus, Audi says, "there is no risk to human beings or animals." Project leader Dr. Björn Elias said in a statement that there is a lot of potential for this technology:

Imagine you drive to work in your Audi e-tron, and on the way home you stop off at the store. Wherever you park the car, its battery will be recharged – perhaps even at traffic signals. These short recharging cycles are ideal for the battery: the smaller the difference between the values before and after recharging, the longer the battery's potential operating life.

A very cool idea, but also one that's far away. Nonetheless, other automakers – like Mitsibishi, Daimler and Nissan – are also working on contact-free ways to fill up your car's battery pack. This is why the deputy director at the power electronics and electrical power systems research center at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory said last May that wireless charging will one day be the standard way we juice up our cars.

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/29/audi-working-on-wireless-charging-with-witricity-technology/