
Volvo has purchased a portion of Momentum Dynamics, a company building wireless charging stations for battery powered vehicles. Volvo is trying to gain an edge in what has become a worldwide race among the largest car companies to gain an advantage in the electric powered vehicle market. Kate Beioley reports for the FT that Volvo isn’t alone in exploring wireless charging technology. She writes:
The Volvo Group Venture Capital AB, a subsidiary of the Volvo Group, said it was investing in the Philadelphia-based company which develops high-power wireless charging systems for trucks, buses and construction equipment, on Tuesday.
It comes during the Detroit auto show and follows high-profile moves by rival companies into the electric and autonomous vehicle market in recent weeks. On Monday Volkswagen unveiled an $800m investment to build electric vehicles at its US plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Wireless charging systems mean cars and other vehicles do not need to plug into the electrical grid using wires and cables and are a potential solution to a major stumbling block for the electric auto industry — the fact that so many vehicles need to be charged away from home.
Per Adamsson, vice-president at Volvo Group Venture Capital said Momentum was able to transmit electricity safely “through air water and ice” and would “fit the harsh conditions under which our customers operate.”
BMW and Daimler are also focusing induction pads, which can be located in conventional garages. Meanwhile Renault has gone further, having tested under-road charging for car batteries on a 100-metre test strip in France.
Read more here.