Design Considerations and Implementation of Coil Detection and Optimized Switching for a Moving Field Inductive Power Transfer System

Powering electric vehicles with on-road charging capabilities eliminates the need for bulky, expensive batteries and enhances their driving range. This addresses a main limitation of current battery-powered electric vehicles. The proposed Moving Field Inductive Power Transfer system, designed for installation on specific highway segments, enables electric vehicles to recharge intermittently while traveling long distances without the need for dedicated charging stops. The primary coils, operating as switched resonant converters embedded in the road, can hand over energy to the next coil, ensuring a continuous power supply follows the vehicle and its onboard secondary coil. This approach significantly reduces power losses in the road-based charging system. This paper outlines the design considerations and showcases an implementation for optimized handover of energy in a scaled model system.