Spinning magnets make wirelessly charging electric cars easy

Dan Seitz Contributing Writer, Tech

Wireless charging is simple and easy, as of right now. Unfortunately, it’s also insanely dangerous because it requires powerful magnetic fields that can fry electronics and destroy your health. So some Canadian researchers have invented a wireless charging system that gets rid of the powerful magnetic fields.

magnetic rotors 0 285x214 Spinning magnets make wirelessly charging electric cars easy


The system is simplicity itself. Let’s say you’re driving an electric car, and pull up to the charging station. Instead of getting out, your parking there triggers a magnet to start spinning. The field from the magnet grabs onto a similar magnet in your car, which also begins to spin… and starts charging your batteries, as the car converts the kinetic energy to electricity.

They don’t need to be perfectly aligned, either: You simply park your car, get out, and do what you need to do. Unfortunately, it’s not perfect: Getting a full charge on your car will take four hours or so.

But this system does mean you don’t have to fool around with power cables in the rain. It may not make electric cars worth it quite yet, but it does get rid of a major annoyance in owning one.

No Strings Attached [University of British Columbia]

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