Intelligent charging solutions for electric
vehicles in particular are key milestones on the road to comprehensive,
environmentally-compatible, sustainable mobility. The fully automatic charging
solution comprises two components: one unit in the underbody of the vehicle and
another on the garage floor. As soon as the car is parked, the two components
connect automatically via a smart system, which among other options is
controlled via ultra broadband – a radio-based communication technology for
short-range data transmission.
A
practical advantage of this is that the car does not have to be parked
accurately. The charging robot corrects for deviation of up to 30 centimeters
from the ideal parking position. In addition, it is irrelevant what angle a
vehicle is positioned in relation to the floor unit. The conical design of the
physical connector between the floor and vehicle unit permits any alignment and
orientation between the units.
“Our charging robot is a real step in the
evolution of making electric mobility more convenient and suitable for everyday
use,” explains Dr. Christoph Falk-Gierlinger, managing director of CES, assing
that, “With Volterio, we have the ideal partner for developing an efficient and
simple solution for charging electric vehicles. Through this cooperation, we
are combining the creativity and flexibility of a young start-up with the
development experience and automotive expertise of Continental Engineering
Services.”
“With
Continental, we have the perfect partner at our side to industrialize our
automated charging technology and achieve success in a growing market,”
explains Christian Flechl, managing director at Volterio. “Continental has the
necessary production capacity and scaling capabilities.”
Both
companies had previously researched similar charging robot solutions at the
same time and independently. In the new cooperation, both partners are
complementing each other, so that a solution that is suitable for everyday
electric mobility can be quickly developed and made available to customers who
are already specifically interested.
Key advantages of the innovative charging
robot
The
new technology offers many benefits. For one, the energy flows through a
physical connection, just as it does in conventional charging stations. This
means that – unlike wireless inductive charging via a magnetic field – hardly
any energy is lost when filling up with the charging robot. This makes this solution
particularly sustainable and efficient.
In addition, charging is very convenient
thanks to the robot technology. Unlike charging stations, users no longer have
to worry about any aspect of charging, such as handling heavy, potentially
contaminated or rain-soaked charging cables in confined garages. The charging
process runs completely automatically.
Furthermore,
communication between the ground and vehicle units via ultra-broadband ensures that
the vehicle and charging robot are aligned prior to charging with centimeter
precision – the user can park relatively casually, the technology does not
require accurate parking. The system is also straight forward and quick to install. For
example, the floor unit can simply be placed on the garage floor or bolted
down. The technology already offers what will be essential in the future: if vehicles
drive fully automatically and also park themselves in parking garages,
automated charging solutions will be part of everyday automotive life.
The
innovative charging solution is initially provided for use in private
households with a suitable rating of 22 kW alternating current. The solution is
a retrofit, so it can be retrofitted in existing model variants of vehicles. In
a second step, a fast charging solution for public areas that can be retracted
into the ground will be developed, for example for parking garages, filling
stations or factory areas with a charging capacity of more than 50 kW direct
current. This also includes corresponding variants, for example for fleet
management of commercial vehicles.