Wave to Deploy 500kW EV Charger in Cold Climates

Wave Charging will deploy its 500kW ultra-fast wireless BEV charging system, developed in conjunction with Cummins and the Department of Energy, in cold climates for the first time.

15-Minute Charging

This wireless charging system fully charged a Class 8 electric truck in less than 15 minutes in a previously announced series of successful tests. For context, a typical household in the United States uses approximately 30kWh of electricity per day, according to WAVE parent company Ideanomics.

A 500kW charger could theoretically supply a day's worth of energy to a home in just 3.6 minutes or provide a full day’s worth of energy to 400 homes, the company explained, and this energy is transmitted wirelessly at a comparable level of efficiency to wired charging.

Midwest Commercial BEV Charging Deployment

Wave (Wireless Advanced Vehicle Electrification) now plans to deploy and demonstrate the 500kW wireless inductive charger at a Venture Logistics facility in the Midwest, in partnership with Cummins, Venture Logistics, and the U.S. Department of Energy,

Venture Logistics is a privately held, full-service logistics company. As part of this initial project, the Wave 500kW system will power two Class 8 electric trucks beginning in the first quarter of 2024.

Supported by an $8.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, the Wave Wireless 500kW charger is being deployed as part of a consortium project. Ideanomics said the high-power wireless charging systems will help operators to more easily meet zero-emission goals with minimal impact on operations.

Cold Climate Charging

The project with Venture Logistics, Ideanomics said, is a further example of how high-power wireless charging is bringing zero-emission capabilities to cold climates where ice and snow create challenging transportation environments. Wireless charging eliminates the need to handle heavy high-power charging cables at low temperatures.

Electrification

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides more than $75 billion in programs and tax credits for vehicle electrification. Several of these programs and incentives include specific designations to electrify heavy-duty vehicles operating in disadvantaged communities and warehouses. 

“Our demonstration project with Venture Logistics will show that for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that demand perpetual operations and require charging infrastructure, wireless charging is the most effective solution at scale,” said Robin Mackie, COO of Ideanomics.

Benefits of the Wave Wireless charging system, according to Ideanomics, are:

• Embedded in the road surface, the WAVE Wireless system charges the truck batteries quickly and conveniently during regularly scheduled stops without the need to handle heavy high-power cables.
• The speed and convenience means charging can occur within the vehicle’s duty cycle, allowing the battery-electric trucks to match the duty cycle of their fossil-fueled internal combustion engine counterparts.
• The pavement-embedded systems have no moving parts, for low maintenance and high availability.
• Unlike legacy plug-in charging systems, the Wave Wireless systems are flush to the ground, reducing the risk of collisions with vehicles in an already busy and congested area.
• The risks of trips and falls associated with cables are eliminated.

“We're demonstrating that electric heavy-duty vehicles can operate continuously, recharging during their regular operations,” said Mackie. “The advantages of this technology are evident: fleet operators enhance efficiency by eliminating vehicle downtime spent refueling or connecting to a central depot.”

Logistics Company Purchases Charging System

Wave Charging also announced it's received an approximately $500,000 purchase order for a new commercial proof of concept project with a major retail and logistics company in the United States.

The project will involve the deployment of BYD yard tractors equipped with Wave's wireless charging technology. The battery-electric yard tractors will be employed at one of the customer’s distribution centers to facilitate the movement of containers as part of a project contributing to a reduction in the customer’s overall emissions footprint.

Ideanomics said Wave’s and the customer’s objectives are to scale the deployment to wider use within the customer's operations, both at distribution centers and other warehouse and middle-mile scenarios.