UBC research creates wireless charger for electric cars

VANCOUVER – Researchers at the University of British Columbia say they’ve found a way around the nuisance and potential danger of repeatedly having to plug in an electric car.

Prof. Lorne Whitehead, with the university’s physics department, says his team has developed a way to wirelessly recharge the vehicle using a frequency 100 times lower than what’s used now.

The team’s so-called “remote magnetic gears” have been successfully tested on campus service vehicles and they allow drivers to pull into special parking slots where the recharging starts automatically.

Whitehead says the system involves two magnets, one in the parking spot that rotates on electricity from the grid and the other within the car.

The outside magnet remotely spins the in-car gear, generating power to charge the battery.

David Woodson, of UBC’s building operations, says the system eliminates the problems of having to connect cords and sockets in cramped conditions and bad weather.