KAIST

NEWS

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KOREAN

Tesla+Lab

New wireless charging device developed The On-line Electric Vehicle (OLEV) developed by KAIST has made a step towards commercialization with the development of a more economic wireless charging device. Professor Chun-Taek Rim from the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST has developed a new I-shaped wireless charging device that differs from the pre-existing rail-type electricity feeder. This device can be modularly produced and requires relatively less construction, significantly reducing the cost of implementation. The KAIST OLEV is a new concept electric car that has a special electricity collecting device underneath it. The car’s battery is charged by magnetic fields produced from electric lines buried 15cm underneath the road. The vehicle was first tested in 2009, making it the first wireless electric car in the world. OLEV can be charged during stoppage time between traffic lights and receives real-time power when running. OLEV is currently in operation at the KAIST Munji Campus in Daejeon and is also being exhibited at the Yeosu Expo and Seoul Grand Park. The device itself has a charging capacity of 15kW, and the electricity is supplied through an electricity feeder with a width of 80cm with a space interval of 20cm. Despite being hailed as a technological breakthrough and revolutionary concept, KAIST OLEV has been criticized for problems in commercialization, due to the difficulties in installing wires beneath existing roads, which costs a considerable amount of money. The new I-shaped wireless charging device reduces the width of the electricity feeder by 10cm, a mere one-eighth of the size of the previous version, and greatly increases the charging power to 25kW. Furthermore, the left and right permissible space of automobiles has increased to 24cm and the magnetic field complies with the international design guidelines, making the OLEV safe for the human body. The reduction of the width has made the mass production of modules possible, making the installation of KAIST OLEV more economical and marketable. Professor Rim emphasized that compared with the existing rail-type electricity feeder, the new technology will need only one-tenth of the construction time and 80% of the cost, significantly improving OLEV’s constructability and workability. The research was published in the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics last December, and Professor Rim was invited to talk at the Conference on Electric Roads & Vehicles, which was held in February in the United States, about the new technology.
2012.07.06 View 10820

KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea T.042-350-2114 F.042-350-2210(2220)