Qualcomm Incorporated and Delta Motorsport, a UK automotive and motorsport engineering consultancy, today announced that Delta has agreed to integrate the Qualcomm Halo™ Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) system into its Delta E-4 Coupé electric vehicles, which are intended for deployment in Qualcomm’s London WEVC trial.
The London WEVC trial is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2012 and is expected to be supported by a cross section of stakeholders, including government departments and agencies, as well as commercial and private sector enterprises. The objectives of the trial are to evaluate the commercial viability of the wireless charging of electric vehicles (EVs), to develop a further understanding of issues relating to the integration of WEVC technology into EVs, to build knowledge associated with the deployment of WEVC into a megacity, and to gain user feedback on the use of WEVC-enabled electric vehicles.
“Delta Motorsport has developed an advanced passenger EV that is a good platform to demonstrate our Qualcomm Halo Wireless EV Charging in pre-commercial deployments. Delta brings high-performance automotive engineering design to the London WEVC trial and the Delta E-4 Coupé displays technology at the cutting edge of EV innovation.”
Said Anthony Thomson, vice president of business development and marketing at Qualcomm Europe Inc.
“Wireless EV Charging is the next technology step for the Delta E-4 Coupé, while the integration of Qualcomm Halo EV charging technology into the Delta E-4 Coupé and rigorous user testing in the London trial will help us better understand future EV engineering challenges.”
Said Nick Carpenter, technical director at Delta Motorsport.
Delta Motorsport also plans to participate with Qualcomm Europe Inc. on a steering committee for the London trial and to provide support for the London Trial.
Qualcomm and Renault s.a.s. had previously announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning their intended cooperation on the London trial of Qualcomm Halo™ Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) technology, and their intent with respect to conducting preliminary studies of the integration of this technology into Renault vehicles. Renault will also join the London trial steering committee.
In November 2011, Qualcomm announced it was embarking on the first large-scale pre-commercial trial of WEVC in the world. The trials were to involve a combination of passenger cars and light goods vehicles and be based partially in Tech City to the East of London, an initiative supported by the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron.
The objective of the trial was to allow partners, including Chargemaster Plc, Addison Lee, Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London’s office, to better understand how WEVC could be deployed in a mega city environment like London and to gain feedback from WEVC drivers on their experience of wireless charging.
Qualcomm acquired all the technology and other assets of HaloIPT, a leading provider of wireless charging technology for electric road vehicles. All members of the HaloIPT team were kept on and joined Qualcomm’s European Innovation Development group based in the UK.
In addition to the HaloIPT purchase, Qualcomm and Auckland UniServices (the commercialisation company of the University of Auckland) have committed to long-term research and development to promote continued innovation in the field of wireless charging for electric road vehicles by way of inductive power transfer.
Source; Qualcomm
