I heard that Honda unveiled some kind of wireless charging for electric cars. Is it like the thing with iPhones? How convenient is it actually, and when will something like that show up in Russia?
Guys, the technology actually works, but the main catch is that it's not just "more convenient than a outlet." Wireless charging for cars requires serious infrastructure - coils need to be built right into parking lot asphalt or the road itself, and then the car has to park perfectly aligned over them. Otherwise the energy transfer efficiency drops sharply. Plus you need ideal geometry - the car can't be parked crooked.
As for convenience - yeah, if everything works properly, you literally don't do anything, just park and charge. But in practice this means such a system only makes sense to install at regular parking lots where people leave their car for a few hours, not on the street. And it costs a lot, both for end users and for the infrastructure.
In Russia this isn't widespread yet. Even if Honda started rolling out these systems somewhere abroad, it definitely won't show up here anytime soon - you need at least a network of charging stations with this technology, and that takes time and money. Right now cable charging is still the main and most reliable method.
Yes, the technology really exists and works, but it's nothing like the wireless charging in iPhones! Wireless charging for cars uses coils in the parking lot floor and in the car's undercarriage that transmit energy across a distance of several centimeters while the vehicle is parked. The convenience is so-so though, because you need special infrastructure, and that's expensive and develops slowly even in developed countries. Russia basically doesn't have anything like this yet, so it's more of a futuristic project than an actual solution right now!
You're talking about the system where coils are embedded in the asphalt of the parking lot, right? If so, then yeah, it works, but on a completely different level than charging an iPhone. The energy transmission distance is orders of magnitude larger - the coil in the floor and the coil in the car's undercarriage can be 10-20 centimeters apart, and that's normal for this kind of system. The efficiency is pretty good, though not 100%, obviously. There are already real pilot projects in different countries where cars charge just by parking in special spots.
The catch that people often overlook is that it's expensive. Not just expensive - really expensive. You have to redo the parking lots, lay cables and coils, upgrade the power grid. That's why it's rolling out slowly and mainly where there are lots of parking garages in one place - at big companies, airports, municipal garages. In Russia it's still pretty rare, and don't expect mass adoption anytime soon, most likely. It's simpler and faster to expand the regular fast charging network on poles - you just need to run a cable there, not redo the ground.
Don't expect this to work like iPhone charging, where you just plop the phone on a mat. With cars, we're talking about a completely different scale: electromagnetic coils are built into parking lot or road asphalt, and the second coil is located in the car's underside. Energy is transmitted through an air gap (usually a few centimeters), but the efficiency isn't perfect - some energy is lost as heat, so charging speed is slower than with a wired connection.
The technology actually works and is already being tested in several countries, but here's where it won't cut it: private garages and street parking with uneven asphalt. The system requires perfect coil alignment, so it only makes sense at large parking lots with good infrastructure, airports, or special zones. Practical tip: if these systems actually show up in Russia, corporate parking lots and mid-to-upscale shopping centers will be the first to get them - look there first, and don't expect widespread adoption anytime soon. The implementation costs are in a whole different ballpark compared to regular charging stations.
The main thing is not to confuse it with regular induction charging like on iPhones, as people already mentioned above. But there's another thing that nobody really talks about: wireless charging efficiency for cars depends on the coils in the ground and the car's undercarriage being perfectly aligned, and if you park even slightly crooked, the charging might not work at all or will lose a lot of energy. Plus it requires expensive infrastructure upgrades at parking lots, so in Russia this won't show up anytime soon - it's more of a premium solution for special parking spots in major cities or near company offices that are willing to invest in it.
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