Posted By
JULIE CRIDLER
on
3/2/2010 5:17 PM
We are always telling our clients to look creatively for ways to take advantage of market trends and create new products around them. Here is an example of a company that is working on doing that. MTC Transformers, a supplier of precision engineered transformers and rewind services, is rechanneling their core expertise in another direction to capitalize on the emerging EV market.
In 2009, MTC Transformers founded a subsidiary company called Evatran, which is developing a hands-free EV charging system known as Plugless Power„·. The system works on the very old principle of inductive power transfer – electrical power flowing into a primary source causes current to flow into a secondary source. Evatran anticipated problems and inconveniences that could be associated with plug-based systems. The Plugless Power system is simple and works based on proximity between the charger and the vehicle. The vehicle itself has to be equipped with a specifically designed adapter, and from there EV drivers simply have to find a Plugless Power equipped parking space and the charging occurs with no further intervention from the driver. According to the company, this method of charging does not take any longer than a traditional plug.
According to the company’s website, field trials for Plugless Power are being carried out during the first quarter of 2010. Evatran expects to reach production capability by late Fall 2010. That target will nicely coincide with the planned introduction of several new EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, to name a couple. Pricing has not been finalized as of yet. I am curious to see how the market receives this product, since it solves a “problem” that really doesn’t seem like that much of a problem in the first place. Is it really that much of an inconvenience to plug something in?
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