InductEV, a pioneer in inductive wireless vehicle charging, has announced that its technology has been named as a TIME Best Invention for 2024. TIME’s editors selected the Pennsylvania-based company’s technology for its annual list of 200 groundbreaking inventions, based on a number of factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.
It’s common for consumer publications to be several years behind the curve on their coverage of “new” technologies, but in this case, TIME really took its time to recognize InductEV. We’ve been covering the company since 2013, when it was known as Momentum Dynamics, and it installed its first commercial wireless system in 2017. But we’re pretty sure the folks at InductEV aren’t complaining about the delay.
To the extent that “average consumers” (such as, say, TIME readers) are aware of wireless EV charging, they probably think of it as a convenience—something that lets you save a few precious seconds, like tapping your credit card on the reader instead of inserting it. However, the true benefits of wireless EV charging are seen in the commercial EV market. As InductEV execs explained to Charged in a 2022 interview, inductive charging can enable commercial fleets to deliver the same service with smaller batteries, reduce vehicle costs, and extend battery life.
InductEV targets commercial transport sectors such as ports, drayage, freight, municipal buses, airport vans, middle-mile vehicles, etc. Road freight vehicles emit an estimated 6% of the world’s total CO2 emissions, so electrifying them, and maximizing the efficiency of charging them, can deliver a lot of bang for the emissions-reduction buck (while also enhancing reliability, driver safety and, yes, convenience).
InductEV’s wireless charging system features an in-ground inductive charging pad paired with a second pad attached to the underside of the vehicle. Current systems range in charging power from 75 kW to 450 kW. The company’s solution shifts the charging scenario from relying on time- and energy-intensive overnight wired charging sessions in depots to shorter charging sessions spread throughout the day.
InductEV has been awarded 105 worldwide patents for its wireless charging technology, and has another 118 pending.
Current deployments of InductEV’s wireless charging solution include:
- A new agreement with Seattle’s Sound Transit to deploy double-decker electric buses along its busiest routes. By the end of 2026, half of all battery-electric buses in the state of Washington are projected to be charged by InductEV’s on-route wireless chargers.
- Wirelessly charging electric port tractors at the AP Moeller Maersk Terminal in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey.
- Municipal transit buses in Indianapolis, Martha’s Vineyard, Oregon, and elsewhere.
- OEM integrations with Phoenix Motor, MAFI, OrangeEV, BYD, Gillig, Volvo and others, which provide integrated InductEV technology off the vehicle production line.
- A partnership with Volvo for wirelessly charged taxi fleets in Gothenburg and Oslo.
“InductEV’s engineers and our colleagues who support them deserve the lion’s share of praise for this prestigious recognition and the tireless work that led to it,” said John F. Rizzo, InductEV’s President and CEO. “The commercial transport industry is at a tipping point in its electrification and decarbonization efforts. As a result, we are seeing tremendous interest in and adoption of our solution.”
Source: InductEV