For electric cars without a plug, thank Tesla (the scientist)

At its introduction last summer in Barcelona, the 2019 Audi A8 quattro became the poster child of automotive high tech: matrix LEDs that shine from the headliner with the wave of a hand, advanced autonomous driver assistance sensors, active electro mechanical suspension. And on the floor under one of the models, a grey metal pad.

Onlookers watched as the pad rose slightly, nearly touching a coil under the front axle. Forget the cables and cut the cords: This was how the prototype of the A 8 L e-tron hybrid would send energy to its block of 104 battery cells.

Give thanks to Tesla — Nikola, the inventor, not the car company — who more than a century ago used electromagnetic energy to transfer power over an “air gap” between two coils. Wireless, or inductive, charging is the next frontier for hybrid and electric vehicles that one day will charge in much the way your new toothbrush or cellphone does. And down the road is the tantalizing possibility that cars in motion will be charged “dynamically,” on the street, by the street.

But induction charging is at least three years away from mass-market automotive application, said Jesse Schneider, who heads a wireless task force for the Society of Automotive Engineers. And, like most technological advances in this industry, a wireless power transfer standard — now in late-stage discussions by the SAE — will need to be approved as safe and secure by the federal government.

It will also require consensus among the world’s vehicle makers. In an industry where competition and proprietary technology are the norm, establishing a one-size-fits-all system is tricky.

Schneider said he believed that wireless charging would help break down barriers for electronic vehicles by making it as simple as pulling into your usual parking spot and walking away. “There are 14 automakers and suppliers on my team, and we have a huge effort underway to come up with one standard methodology,” he said.

The limited real-world systems that use wireless charging require parking a recep-to-requipped vehicle over a charging platform. Several automakers are planning to offer wireless charging on some vehicles.