The process of finalizing standards for wireless charging is well underway. At a recent conference, SAE Wireless Charging Taskforce Chair Jesse Schneider presented the recently published SAE TIR, Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) for Light-Duty Plug-In/ Electric Vehicles and Alignment Methodology, along with plans for standardization by 2018 to support commercialization.

The SAE TIR J2954 contains a normative specification for both the vehicle and infrastructure side coils for the power level WPT 1 (up to 3.7 kW) and informative specifications for WPT 2 (up to 7.7 kW).

The SAE projects a commercial rollout of Wireless Power Transfer infrastructure by 2020.

Bench testing is underway at the Idaho National Lab, and has made significant headway to validate both the WPT 1 and WPT 2 specifications. Interim results have shown that the systems can safely transfer power at efficiencies of 85%-95%.

SAE and ISO will work together to create one common standard, with content shared by the SAE J2954 and ISO 19363 specifications.

“The SAE J2954 TIR gives the wireless power transfer specification for both the vehicle and the infrastructure,” said Jesse Schneider. “The testing projects underway with the US DOE and the industry were designed to give the SAE Wireless Power Transfer Taskforce the background for the WPT 1 and WPT 2 power levels in first quarter of 2017 for the next phase of standardization, Recommended Practice J2954.”

Source: Green Car Congress