UK To Host Google Driverless Car Trials

Though the technology may be hard to use at the moment.

In addition to being incredibly novel, wireless charging might be the flawless system for Google’s self-driving cars: the vehicles may end up intended not as purchases for individuals but rather a public transport or fleet-type solution, and wireless charging could them on the road without having to stop for a person to plug them into a charging station.

IEEE Spectrum, which first noticed the FCC filings, reckons that the use of wireless chargers embedded into roadways would allow EVs to use smaller, lighter batteries (and thus reducing costs) since there would be greater opportunities to pause and grab a quick recharge without any user intervention. And according to the rumors out there, 3 companies have submitted their projects to the tech giant since February 2015.

But the documentation found on FCC’s table is capable of telling us even more than this. Now the Hevo Power cequipment is only shown to charge at 1.5 kilowatts, a rather slow pace for any electric vehicle of any sort.

Google is by no means the only company looking into the possibility of wirelessly charging cars.

Google came prepared with a little speech regarding this rumors. There are also hills around, making it possible to test the sensors at different angles and elevations. According to the schematics, it would seem that the wireless charger is no larger than a manhole cover. Back in December, Chris Urmson wrotein a Medium post, “We’ve heard countless stories from people who need a fully self-driving vehicle today”.

Another very interesting thing is how the wireless charging system is described to work – a transmitter set in the ground will send up energy to a receiver situated underneath the vehicle via a process called resonant magnetic induction principle. It has only recently launched the self-driving pilot in its third city, and testing in London would necessitate time, expense and a dedicated team based in the UK. Naturally, this is the next logical step the company needs to take in order to make the technology feasible