Qualcomm Rolls Out First Commercial Use of Wireless EV Charger

Qualcomm Wireless Charging Mercedes-Benz S550e

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), the San Diego wireless technology giant, announced in a blog item this week that its Halo wireless electric vehicle charging technology will be available commercially for the first time in 2017, with the mid-year introduction of the 2018 model of the Mercedes-Benz S550e.

Daimler AG introduced its first plug-in hybrid model in the U.S. last year, the 2016 S550, which combined a V-6 gasoline engine with an integrated 85-kilowatt electric motor and an 8.6 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack (and was priced at $95,325). The charging cable plugs into a socket on the right rear bumper.

The new S550e also is outfitted for wireless charging, which enables the driver to charge by simply parking the car directly over a wireless charging pad. The system, licensed by Qualcomm to an unidentified “Tier 1 power electronics supplier,” uses resonant magnetic induction technology that transfers energy from a mat on the ground to a receiver in the car with no strings or power cables attached. Just “park it and charge it.”

But can’t a hybrid electric car also recharge itself by simply driving around?

In response to questions from Xconomy, a spokesman for Qualcomm explained in an e-mail:

“The s550e is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which means that the traction battery used to power its motors can be recharged by connecting the car in to an external source of electric power. PHEV batteries [also] can be topped up from the internal combustion engine, but this removes the zero emission benefit. PHEVs therefore still need to be charged from the grid while parked to ensure optimal zero emission performance.”

According to Qualcomm, its Halo wireless electric vehicle charging systems have been integrated and successfully tested on a number of different vehicles, including the Renault Fluence; Nissan Leaf; BMW i3; BMW i8 and Honda Accord.

The Qualcomm Halo 7.4 kW systems also are integrated into Qualcomm-sponsored safety cars used in the FIA Formula E racing circuit.

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.