NZ company launches first wireless electric cars

New Zealand company launches first wireless electric car charger

A New Zealand company has launched the world’s first wireless technology which allows parked or moving electric cars to charge automatically.

HaloIPT, a UK based company, is owned by Auckland UniServices Ltd and Ove Arup & Partners.

The company is the first in the world to bring to market IPT (Inductive Power Transfer) technology which allows cars fitted with a receiver pad to charge automatically when parked over transmitter pads buried into the ground.

IPT systems can also be configured to power all road-based vehicles from small city cars to heavy-goods vehicles and buses.

The technology was launched overnight in London. The first car to be powered with HaloIPT technology will be on display in London until the end of November.

Auckland UniServices Ltd chief executive Peter Lee said the wireless charging technology which is set to revolutionise the electric vehicle market has major benefits for New Zealand.

“The potential is huge. The delivery of this benefit will be global but the high technology end of the business will stay in New Zealand.”

Dr Anthony Thomson, CEO of HaloIPT says the wireless charging pads are designed to function beneath asphalt, submerged in water or covered in ice and snow.

In the future, the technology will be able to be embedded in roads so cars can be charged on the move. This will solve the range issues electric vehicles have and reduce battery size requirements, says Dr Thompson.

The IPT technology was developed by The University of Auckland’s Power Electronics Group, who are world leaders in the field.

Their pioneering technology uses magnetic fields to transfer power instead of cables or brushes.

The group is led by electrical engineers Professor John Boys and Associate Professor Grant Covic from the Faculty of Engineering at the University.

Dr Boys says it was an exciting development and pleasing to see research originally developed in the basement of the Engineering Faculty at the University of Auckland more than 20 years ago (1989) now making it on to the international stage.

Notes to editors

About HaloIPT:

HaloIPT is a start-up technology development company specialising in public and private transportation. The company was founded in 2010 by the New Zealand-based research and development commercialisation company UniServices, Trans Tasman Commercialisation Fund (TTCF) and by the global design consultancy firm Arup.

www.haloipt.com

High resolution images of the IPT car are available.

UniServices

Auckland UniServices Limited, owned by The University of Auckland, is the largest research and development company of its kind in Australasia. UniServices manages The University’s intellectual property and is responsible for all research-based consultancy partnerships, contract education and commercialisation. http://www.uniservices.co.nz/Showcases/VideoShowcases/InvestmentvideoWirel essCarChargingIPT.aspx

ENDS

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