With a receiver in the car’s bumper, a driver need only pull up so that the wheels rest against the stop, and the vehicle is perfectly aligned for charging.

New wireless EV charging systems are cropping up like new kitchen gadgets for Christmas. Most systems now available or in real-world testing, such as Evatran’s Plugless Power and Qualcomm’s Halo, use a charging pad that can be mounted on the surface of a parking space, or embedded underneath the asphalt or concrete. However, this isn’t a perfect solution. A surface-mounted pad can get in the way, and embedding a pad requires some additional trouble and expense (and in some locations, such as multi-story garages, may not be practical at all).

Miami-based Car Charging Group, Inc. (OTCQB: CCGI) has come up with a solution – embedding the inductive charging apparatus in a “parking bumper.” What CarCharging calls a bumper, and others call a chock or wheel stop, is an oblong piece of concrete, wood or plastic that is common in parking facilities around the world. With a transmitter in this item, and a receiver in the car’s bumper, a driver need only pull up so that the wheels rest against the stop, and the vehicle is perfectly aligned for charging.

"While current inductive charging options have eliminated the station's plug in cord, they add alignment issues between the charging station and the EV, and installations can be extremely expensive, if not impossible," said Michael D. Farkas, CEO of CarCharging. "To reduce these obstacles, we believe that the energy source for the charge should be placed in the parking bumper. The parking bumper is already standard to most parking lots, and it eases permitting issues because the installation is easier and the appearance of the parking spot is unchanged."

CarCharging is focused on the design and placement of the charging station, rather than the energy transfer technology involved, and plans to adapt its design to integrate with the magnetic coupling technology offered by Qualcomm, Delphi, Siemens, Evatran and others. It announced the filing of a utility patent application (#13600058) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the idea, and intends to incorporate the wireless charging standard currently being developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Soucre: CarCharging Group