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With the first mass-scale electric vehicles rolling off US car lots, a new class of automotive entrepreneurs is emerging to develop charging systems and outlets.
“A lot of firms big and small see this and ask ‘how can I innovate?'", says Rob Peterson, spokesman for GM’s Chevrolet Volt program, which just started delivery in late 2010.
To start, all those electric vehicles, EV, will need to be refueled, or repowered, and dozens of companies—from giants like Siemens to startups like ECOtality —are rushing to build plug-in charging systems to keep them on the road.
But Virginia-based EvaTran plans to make that refuelling habit easier by rolling out a home-based-induction charging system this year.
Induction charging means no plugs are required. The driver parks the part of the recharging unit attached to the car near the unit on the wall and the power flows wirelessly.
Consider it a larger version of Duracell’s myGrid charging pad that can charge cellphones and other small electronics.
“It’s much more power,” EvaTran CEO Tom Hough points out, comparing the recharging of a Chevy Volt to a Blackberry. “When you talk about that much power, it’s a whole new ballgame.”
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