Plugging in a car in is sorta of like filling up with gas…if it took between three and eight hours to fill up. But imagine never having to plug your car in again? Sounds crazy, but Infiniti is reportedly working on a wireless inductive charging system for their upcoming compact EV based on the Nissan LEAF.
The Luxury Of Not Plugging In
Wireless charging has become popular with smartphone users, who can simply drop their phone on a pad to have it recharge, no switch flipping or plugging in. That same concept has been under development for electric cars for some time now, but as of yet it hasn’t been installed on any production vehicle.
That could change in 2014 though, when Nissan has said it would introduce an all-electric compact for the Infinti luxury brand. According to Popular Mechanics, his compact, based on the Nissan LEAF, will reportedly also include a wireless charging option for those who install a charging pad in their garage.
It makes sense to introduce this feature on an upscale car, as Infiniti can charge a premium. Eventually, this technology will “trickle down” to lower end vehicles if Nissan sticks with its electric vehicle plans, and the Japanese automaker is already working on zero-contact charging technology.
Of course it will still have the standard plug for charging off of a wall socket or regular charging station. But the idea of being able to just park the car in the garage, and have it automatically charge? That sounds awful appealing to me.
PDF 
About Christopher DeMorro
Nice piece, Chris, but I think Infiniti’s effort is misguided. Putting a plug in a socket doesn’t slow EV acceptance. Cost/vehicle and miles/charge do. As long as car manufacturers focus on non-essentials, the penetration of EVs will lag.
This reminds me of Ford’s Irrelevant Technology product differentiation strategy. Remember that 60s era Mercury sedan with inward-tilted electric rear-windshield? Cool! But did it address any of the auto transport issues of that time (e.g., crash resistance, reliability)? It did not. These days, when the rise in global average temperatures is affecting industrial policy everywhere but here, I wish Infiniti et al. would keep their eye on the ball.