Volvo Cars is integrating and testing a new wireless charging technology that enables EV drivers to conveniently charge at more than 40kW without getting out of their car.

The trial will see a small fleet of fully electric Volvo XC40 Recharge cars used as taxis and charged wirelessly at stations in Gothenburg, Sweden

The trials are being run in a live city environment, evaluating the technology’s potential for future electric cars.

Over a three-year period, a small fleet of fully electric Volvo XC40 Recharge cars will be used as taxis by Cabonline, the largest taxi operator in the Nordic region, and charged wirelessly at stations in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The trial will enable the drivers to charge at more than 40kW, making the charging speeds around four times faster than a wired 11kW AC charger and almost as fast as a wired 50kW DC fast charger.

It’s part of the Gothenburg Green City Zone strategic initiative, co-launched by Volvo and using designated areas within the city as live test beds for the development of sustainable technologies.

Mats Moberg, head of research and development at Volvo Cars, outlined: “Gothenburg Green City Zone lets us try exciting new technologies in a real environment and evaluate them over time for a potential future broader introduction. Testing new charging technologies together with selected partners is a good way to evaluate alternative charging options for our future cars.”

Partners in the trial include Momentum Dynamics, a leading provider of wireless electric charging systems, including those used for the test.

The charging starts automatically when a compatible vehicle parks over a charging pad embedded in the street. The charging station sends energy through the charging pad, which is picked up by a receiver unit in the car.

To ensure the car is easily aligned with the charging pad, Volvo will use its 360-degree camera system.

In total, the Volvo cars will be used for more than 12 hours a day and drive 100,000km per year (over 62,000 miles), which also makes this the first durability test of fully electric Volvo cars in a commercial usage scenario.

Other partners involved in the wireless charging project include the company’s own Swedish retailers Volvo Bil and Volvo Car Sörred, Swedish energy company Vattenfall and its charging network InCharge, the city energy company Göteborg Energi, and Business Region Gothenburg, a municipal economic development agency owned by the City of Gothenburg.