Inductive charging is one of the candidate technological solutions for the deployment of the “Electric Road” in France and Europe. It allows electric vehicles to be recharged while driving. The main advantage is the reduction in the size of vehicle batteries while increasing the range of electric vehicles. It is particularly suited to the needs of the logistics sector and long-distance road transport.
Successfull trials
Since a world first in July 2018 as part of the European H2020 project called FABRIC, with two vehicles charging at 20kW while each one is travelling at 100km/h at the same time on a track (American tertiary system), VEDECOM has developed with its partners Renault, Stellantis and EDF, a clean charging technology while travelling by induction at a power of 30kW. The system consists of coils and electronic boxes that must be integrated into the road during its renewal or construction. 30 kW is enough power to recharge a light vehicle on a motorway.
According to the first tests obtained on a test platform, the efficiency obtained is over 90%, which is an excellent rate. Other tests validated compliance with electromagnetic field standards, bearing in mind that the system is secure: induction is only activated when the vehicle passes by and if the communication system recognises and validates the triggering of its recharge. VEDECOM is continuing to develop its system as part of the VERA project (PIA).
Other inductive charging technologies are being tested in Europe, notably the Israeli ElectReon solution: its DWPT (Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer) system is being tested on the 1050m Italian “Arena del Futuro” circuit.
INCIT-EV and Use Case 2 – Demonstration of inductive charging while driving in Paris
VEDECOM will test its technology in an urban area, in Paris, in the second half of 2022, as part of the European INCIT-EV project. INCIT-EV aims to test and evaluate seven different charging technologies. With a budget of €18M, it brings together 33 partners from 8 different countries. The objective is to demonstrate the replicability of these solutions, to guarantee interoperability and to provide a decision-making tool to help make the most appropriate choices for the territories. A project focused on the user experience, to INCITE the use of Electric Vehicles. These experiments have a lot at stake for the deployment of electric vehicles.
A promising technology that requires a collective dynamic
Dynamic contactless recharging promises to be one of the most interesting and interoperable recharging solutions: interoperable from one vehicle to another, but also from one supplier to another.
Aesthetic and sustainable, since it is buried underground, it is perfectly suited to urban environments where the constraints of space dedicated to infrastructure are particularly strong and where speed limits are more conducive to charging. Since we drive slower, we stay longer on the track and therefore recharge for longer. This is also the solution that would be the most widely shared: recharging while driving would solve the problem of the inevitable bottlenecks at the charging stations.
The key to progress is both a dialogue among the players and a political strong will.
>> More info on INCIT-EV Project
It will bring a better experience and more services to users. In addition, it will save costs!
Industrial representatives from all electric mobility players gathered in a first plennery session. Their aim is to support the deployment of the new-generation electric mobility. Ultimately, any AC and DC terminal installed in France should be compatible with the ISO 15118 vehicle-terminal communication standard, but also secure and interoperable.
If you have ever owned an electric vehicle, you know the pleasure of less polluting the air… but also the complications of recharging. Today, electric vehicle charging system is at a crossroads. The price of electric vehicles becomes accessible, the batteries are breaking distance records. To allow a better user experience and more services, the major remaining obstacle is the maturity of charging systems. If overcame, it will bring smart charging, plug & charge (see definitions below) and later on, bidirectionnal charging systems (the car recharges the network) or even wireless systems.
To achieve this, the main French and European players are converging towards compliance with a standard for communication between terminals and vehicles, the ISO15118 standard. However, to enable the emergence of terminals compatible with this standard, and therefore an open market, it is necessary to bring all the players around the table and agree on the final specifications. One major point remains to be defined: that of cybersecurity (PKI).
General mobilisation
To this end, the main organisations representing the sectors involved in electric recharging joined forces on 7 July 2020 in the form of an Initiative for New-Generation Electric Recharge: AFIREV (Association Française pour l’Itinérance de la Recharge Electrique), AVERE (Association nationale pour le développement de la mobilité électrique), PFA (Plateforme Française de l’Automobile) and the VEDECOM Institute (research and innovation on the mobilities of the future), the latter being tasked with coordinating the initiative.
Several workshops then gave rise to a plenary meeting on 17 September 2020, bringing together around fifteen French industrialists from each sector: energy specialists such as Enedis, car manufacturers such as PSA Group, such as Schneider Electric, charging infrastructure and e-mobility services operators such as Freshmile, technology and services for e-mobility suppliers such as Trialog.
Electric Charging Initiative partners ©VEDECOM
The circle will gradually be extended to all manufacturers in order to deploy the ISO 15118 standard by 2023.
The plenary session enabled the participation of other institutional actors such as the French Ministry of Ecology (DGEC), which supports and accompanies the Initiative. It will ensure that the specicifications defined by the Initiative for the developpers are consistent with the French “Objective 100,000 charging stations” plan. The Ile de France Region was also participating. The local authority is working since 2029 on the deployment of more than 5,000 charging stations by 2022, notably with the help of the IRVE label: a system that complements national aid such as Advenir. Finally, the initiative is working together with existing French and European working groups on this theme.
3 years to manage the deployment of a standard
If one wants to implement 15118 standard into charging systems and allow plug & charge service, it is first necessary for the charging stations manufacturers to make them interoperable, i.e. able to recognise any electricity supplier and any charging infrastructure operator. It is also necessary for charging infrastructure and e-mobility services operators, as well as for technology and service providers, to learn how to make this standard work, how to implement new blocks in their information systems. This first step will allow cardless charging and plug & charge. Finally, they need to improve the security of the connection.
To achieve this, VEDECOM, as the project’s prime contractor, has proposed a two-step calendar:
- First step (2020): define the adapted cybersecurity architecture (ISO 15118 PKI) for Plug and Charge (PnC).
- Second step (by 2021-23): define a standardised, interoperable and industrialisable PnC and Smart Charging system to support a collaborative deployment. Some tests will be carried out on pilot sites. Various documents will be produced by the working group, training and technical workshops will be proposed in 2021 and 2022. At the end of this stage, all the players will benefit of all necessary tools and knowledge. By 2023, the planners and operaters will be able to start the deployment of the new-generation electric charging.
What will ISO 15118 bring in charging systems?
- Plug & Charge (PnC): this solution automatically identifies the user’s service contract by simply connecting the charging cable between the vehicle and the terminal, with a high level of security and a simplified user experience. It therefore avoids the need for multiple badges: “you plug in the cable.. and the charging process starts automatically”.
- Smart charging: this solution enables to program a recharging schedule that is negotiated between the terminal and the vehicle and optimised according to their technical constraints, the needs and requirements of the driver and the network electrical constraints.
Plug & charge preconditions :
- a service contract installed in the electric vehicle
- an electric vehicle and a PnC-compatible terminal
- interoperability so that any vehicle can be recharged at any charging station
Discover the main partners of the initiative:
- PFA (Plateforme Française de l’Automobile)
- AFIREV (Association Française pour l’Itinérance de la Recharge Electrique)
- AVERE (Association nationale pour le développement de la mobilité électrique)
- VEDECOM Institute (research and innovation on the mobilities of the future),
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