UNPLUGGED
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Description and objectives
The UNPLUGGED project aims to investigate how the use of inductive charging in electric vehicles (EVs) in urban environments can improve the sustainability and convenience of utility-based mobility.
In particular, it will investigate how smart inductive charging infrastructures can facilitate full EV integration into urban road systems while improving customer acceptance.
UNPLUGGED will achieve these objectives by examining in detail the technical feasibility, practical issues, interoperability, user perception and socio-economic impacts of inductive charging. On-road inductive charging will also be investigated as a variant of the main project objective.
Two intelligent inductive charging systems will be built, taking into account the requirements of manufacturers, distributors and users. These systems will be innovative and go beyond the current state of the art in terms of high power transmission, intelligent communication permission between the vehicle and the grid, as well as compliance with the latest standards and system interoperability.
These charging systems will be evaluated and validated in order to understand their potential impact on urban mobility. Their application in on-road inductive charging will be examined for different types of vehicles, from cars to buses. UNPLUGGED will provide real-world evidence on whether the use of smart inductive charging can overcome existing barriers to e-mobility such as the range and size of energy storage, as well as practical difficulties in installing traditional charging points.
In addition, the project will include a feasibility study and economic model for “dynamic” on-road inductive charging.
This technology is currently at a less mature stage than static inductive charging, however, it has the potential to provide the user with virtually unlimited autonomy, as long as the user stays on routes specially designed for this technology.
Value proposition
To achieve the goal of making the vision of the project a reality, it will be necessary to overcome a large number of obstacles first. These obviously include technical problems but also others of an economic and social nature, as well as relating to the interaction of the EV with the infrastructure. The main challenges that UNPLUGGED will overcome are:
- Increasing the efficiency and speed of power transmission.
- Optimizing the relative position between the vehicle's coils
- Planning for the possible expansion of the power grid to be able to handle the new fleet of vehicles
- Minimize accident risks, those due to the influence of the magnetic field and ensure the protection of all equipment.
- Achieve economically viable solutions
- Find a secure and fair way to bill for the energy consumed.
- Develop a secure wireless communications system between the vehicle and the network.
- Ensure interoperability of communication and inductive charging systems.
Project partners
The UNPLUGGED consortium is led by FKA and ENIDE, and coordinates the efforts of the main players in the sector: automotive (such as Volvo, Centro Ricerche Fiat, Hella or Continental), energy (ENDESA and ENEL) and transport companies (such as Transport for London), together with several key research and technology centers such as the CIRCE Foundation, with a total of 17 partners.