A Coil Detection System for Dynamic Wireless Charging of Electric Vehicle

Application of wireless power transfer while an electric vehicle (EV) is in motion can significantly reduce the battery storage capacity. A major challenge in implementation of dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) is an automatic detection of EV to avoid loss in efficiency and alleviate any safety concerns. This paper proposes a novel coil detection method for segmented DWPT. Detection of the EV ahead of its arrival will initiate energizing of the transmitter buried inside the road to enable just-in-time transfer of power. At low speeds, communication can be a reliable method to power up the transmitter coil. However, at high speeds on highways, the communication latency time for the detection of an EV is long and hence impractical. This paper proposes a low-cost and low-power EV detection system based on a novel orthogonal coil arrangement to detect EVs traveling at high speeds. The proposed detection system was tested on a laboratory scale prototype for verification purpose. For high-speed verification, simulation in PLECS was conducted to test the functionality of the proposed system.