High-Performance Multi-MHz Capacitive Wireless Power Transfer System for EV Charging Utilizing Interleaved-Foil Coupled Inductors

This article introduces a kilowatt-scale large air-gap capacitive wireless power transfer (WPT) system for electric vehicle (EV) charging that achieves high-power transfer density and high efficiency. High-power transfer density is achieved by operating at a multi-MHz frequency (13.56 MHz), and by utilizing innovatively designed matching networks that enable effective power transfer by providing gain and reactive compensation while absorbing the parasitics present in the EV charging environment. High efficiency is achieved through the use of new interleaved-foil air-core coupled inductors in the matching networks. Interleaved-foil inductors provide a better tradeoff between quality factor, size, and self-resonant frequency compared to conventional solenoidal inductors, making them suitable for compactly and efficiently processing kilowatt-scale power at multi-MHz frequencies. Two variants of the interleaved-foil concept are presented: a semi-toroidal interleaved foil (STIF) inductor and a toroidal interleaved-foil (TIF) inductor. The superior performance of interleaved-foil inductors is demonstrated using analytical formulations, which are validated through finite-element analysis and measurements. Compared to the highest-quality-factor solenoidal inductor, the STIF inductor is shown to achieve 32% smaller box volume while having only 3% lower measured quality factor, while the TIF inductor is shown to achieve an even better tradeoff with 27% smaller box volume and 30% higher measured quality factor. A 13.56-MHz, 12-cm air-gap prototype capacitive WPT system utilizing TIF inductors with a quality factor of 2055 in its matching networks is designed, built, and tested. This system achieves record-breaking performance for a capacitive EV charging system, with an efficiency of 94.7% while transferring 3.75 kW using 22-cm-diameter coupling plates, corresponding to a power transfer density of 49.4 kW/m
²
. This TIF-inductor-based prototype is also shown to outperform a second high-performance prototype utilizing STIF inductors.