Honda Wireless EV Charging Patent Highlights ‘Range Anxiety’ as Adoption Barrier

Honda may want to ax the plug. 

The automaker filed a patent application for a “contactless electric power transmission system.” Honda’s filing describes a system for rapid wireless charging for electric vehicles: A battery attached to the underside of the vehicle lets it charge on the go.

Honda’s invention is basically a Mario Kart Dash Panel in real life: While a vehicle is in motion, if it passes over the contactless power transmission system built into the ground, the vehicle will gain back some of its charge.

In order to prevent excess power from being transmitted, and to ensure that the power transmission system is ready for the passing vehicle, the car and the system are wirelessly connected prior to the vehicle reaching the “transmission zone” to communicate the vehicle’s power needs. That way, the vehicle still benefits from the charge even if it’s traveling at a high speed. 

Honda’s patent also noted that, when this system communicates with the vehicle, it may pass along billing information associated with a user’s account to pay for the charge, similar to an automatic toll booth. 

Charging infrastructure remains one of the biggest hurdles for widespread EV adoption. While charging stations are widely available in many cities, many hesitate to pull the trigger due to “range anxiety,” said Rei Vardi, CEO and founder of EV rental and sharing firm Eon. 

But range isn’t the only issue, Vardi noted. The speed and efficiency of charging also present a barrier. As it stands, even the fastest chargers take around 20 minutes to get an electric vehicle to a full charge, he said, and many chargers can take several hours to power up a vehicle. 

“You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re close to zero and you don’t really know where to charge,” Vardi said. “Alternatively, maybe there’s a bunch of charging stations nearby, but each one of those is going to take five to six to 12 hours.” 

Honda has been ramping up EV production in North America — it’s planned an $11 billion investment in Canadian EV operations and is retooling its Ohio plant to manufacture EVs — so it makes sense why the firm would also be researching new innovations in charging infrastructure that may help cure range anxiety. 

“The expansion of EV charging infrastructure and the introduction of more advanced EV charging technologies could help bolster EV adoption by reducing some of the lingering concerns from potential EV buyers,” said Madeline Ruid, AVP and research analyst covering clean energy at Global X ETFs.

This invention, however, might not be it, said Vardi. Contactless charging relies on close proximity between the device and the charging element. Given that vehicles are at least a foot or so off the ground, that distance between the power transmission system and the battery would make it difficult for the vehicle to benefit in any way. 

Plus, contactless charging often takes longer than plug-in — so the milliseconds it’d take for the vehicle to drive over this charger likely wouldn’t provide enough time to do much of anything. “The viability is really not there,” said Vardi. “The inefficiency, comparatively, with contactless charging is so much greater.”