WiTricity

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
WiTricity Corporation
Company typePrivate
IndustryWireless power transfer
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
FounderMarin Soljačić
Headquarters
Watertown, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
  • Alex Gruzen (CEO)
  • Morris Kesler (CTO)
Websitewitricity.com

WiTricity Corporation is an American

wireless electrical vehicle (EV) charging as well as consumer products such as laptops, mobile phones and televisions
.

History

The company was established by

Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), which later merged with the Power Matters Alliance to form the AirFuel Alliance.[3] Alex Gruzen replaced Eric Giler as chief executive officer (CEO) in 2014.[5][6] Morris Kesler serves as chief technology officer (CTO).[7][8] The company is a member of the Wireless Power Consortium.[9]

In 2017, WiTricity began focusing on charging systems for electric vehicles more than consumer technology products.[2] By 2018, WiTricity had partnered with more than a dozen automotive companies, including nine of the world's largest ten, on research and development projects.[10] Audi, Mahle GmbH, and Mitsubishi were among the partnering companies.[6][11]

In 2018, WiTricity was named a New Energy Pioneer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.[12][13] The company acquired the assets and intellectual property rights of Qualcomm Halo and its inductive charging technology in February 2019; the deal included more than 1,000 patents and patent applications,[14] as well as technology designs and licenses, and made Qualcomm a minority owner of WiTricity.[6][15] In late 2020, MIT and WiTricity filed an infringement lawsuit against the Pennsylvania-based company Momentum Dynamics over seven wireless energy transfer patents.[16] The lawsuit resulted in the invalidation of six of the asserted patents, and WiTricity filed a second infringement suit in March 2023.[17]

Funding

Prior to Toyota's investment in 2011, WiTricity had raised approximately $15 million.[18] By April 2013, WiTricity had received approximately $45 million in funding.[1] After additional funding rounds in 2015 and 2018, the company had raised $68 million.[2] WiTricity had raised approximately $88 million in venture capital by early 2019.[14] Funders have included Delta Electronics, Foxconn, Haier, Intel, Schlumberger, and Toyota.[14][19]

In 2020, WiTricity completed a $34 million round led by Stage 1 Ventures with additional participation by Air Waves Wireless Electricity and Mitsubishi subsidiary Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).[20] The round was extended for an additional $18 million raised in January 2021; Tony Fadell was among the private investors and joined WiTricity's advisory board.[21][22]

In August 2022, WiTricity completed another round of funding raising $63 million.[23] The round was led by Siemens which invested $25 million and acquired a minority stake in the company earlier in June 2022.[24][25] Mirae Asset Capital and Japan Energy Fund joined the round along with few other returning investors.[23]

Technology

WiTricity's technology allows wireless power transfer over distance via magnetic resonance.[1] Alternating current (AC) electricity runs through an electromagnetic coil within a charging station to form an oscillating electromagnetic field.[26] Another coil resonating at the same frequency captures the field's energy and a rectifier delivers direct current (DC) current to a battery management system.[3] The technology works through various materials, such as stone, cement, asphalt or wood, and has an energy conversion efficiency end-to-end above 90 percent, equivalent to plugging in.[citation needed] By 2013–2014, electric power output had reached 10 W for mobile devices, 6 kW for passenger vehicles, and 25 kW for fleets and buses.[5][27] WiTricity's EV has charging rates from 3.6 to 11 kW, and the technology scales up to hundreds of kilowatts for heavy duty vehicles such as buses.[28]

Uses

WiTricity has reached licensing deals with Anjie Wireless,

laptop-tablet Latitude 7285 marked the first commercial consumer product to use the technology.[3]

In 2018,

wireless charging,[15] and Hyundai's Kona also demonstrated use of the technology.[10] In January 2019, Honda and WiTricity demonstrated wireless vehicle-to-grid charging at the Consumer Electronics Show.[15] The technology was also being used for the McLaren Speedtail Hyper-GT by 2020.[20][34] In May 2020, China published their national standard for EV wireless charging which incorporated WiTricity's technology,[35][36] and WiTricity played a key role in establishing SAE International's J2954 standard for wireless power transfer.[34][37]

In 2022, WiTricity received a $50,000 grant from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform and the State of Michigan to install a wireless charging station at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab, operated by the American Center for Mobility.[38][39]

The 2022 Hyundai Genesis GV60 uses wireless charging hardware by WiTricity.[40][41][42]

In 2022, WiTricity licensed its technology with Wiferion, which develops wireless charging systems for industrial applications such as

automated guided vehicles, cobots, and trucks.[43][44]

References

  1. ^ a b c Markowitz, Eric (April 18, 2013). "All of the Electric Power with None of the Wires: If WiTricity succeeds in developing its technology, the future of electricity could be bright--and wireless". Inc. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Sullivan, Mark (February 27, 2018). "The Little Company That's Bringing Wireless Charging To Electric Cars". Fast Company. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Engel, Jeff Bauter (July 11, 2017). "Dell Wirelessly Charging PC Marks WiTricity's First Consumer Device". Xconomy. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Frizell, Sam (June 4, 2014). "So Long, Charging Cables: Wireless Power Is Coming". Time. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Lai, R. (June 11, 2014). "Intel's cable-free future will use WiTricity's advanced wireless charging". Engadget. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Hanley, Steve (February 17, 2019). "A Conversation With WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen — #CleanTechnica Exclusive". CleanTechnica. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "A Future of Gadgets without Power Cords? Not So Fast". NPR. July 21, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2021 – via WBUR-FM.
  8. ^ Mearian, Lucas (March 28, 2018). "Wireless charging explained: What is it and how does it work?". Computerworld. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "Members List". Wireless Power Consortium.
  10. ^ a b Woyke, Elizabeth (September 18, 2018). "Future robo-taxis could charge themselves and help balance the electric grid". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  11. ^ Motavalli, Jim (July 25, 2012). "WiTricity Takes Its Car-Charging Technology Out for a Road Test". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  12. PennWell
    . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ten Winners of The New Energy Pioneers Unveiled at Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York City". Bloomberg New Energy Finance. April 9, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d Freeman, Mike (February 12, 2019). "WiTricity acquires assets of Qualcomm wireless electric vehicle charging group". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  15. ^ a b c Szatkowski, Danielle (February 11, 2019). "WiTricity acquires Qualcomm's EV charging unit". Automotive News. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  16. ^ Maffei, Lucia (December 10, 2020). "MIT, WiTricity file patent suit against Pa. tech company". Boston Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  17. ^ "InductEV Successfully Defends Mission-Critical Patents".
  18. ^ Kirsner, Scott (April 27, 2011). "Toyota makes multi-million-dollar investment in WiTricity Corp., developer of wireless car-charging technology". Boston.com. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  19. ^ Sawers, Paul (February 11, 2019). "WiTricity acquires Qualcomm Halo to accelerate wireless charging for electric vehicles". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  20. ^ a b Kane, Mark (November 4, 2020). "WiTricity Raises $34 Million To Expand Wireless EV Charging". InsideEVs. Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  21. ^ Walrath, Rowan (March 2, 2021). "VC funding update: Boston startups and tech firms raised $2.3B in February". BostInno. The Business Journals. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  22. ^ Korosec, Kirsten (March 1, 2021). "The Station: Lucid Motors, Joby Aviation take the SPAC path and Sergey Brin's airship ambitions". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  23. ^ a b Hernbroth, Megan (August 9, 2022). "EV charging startup WiTricity raises $63M". Axios. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022.
  24. ^ Bates, Michael (June 9, 2022). "Siemens Acquires Stake in WiTricity to Drive EV Wireless Charging Innovation". NGT News: Next-Gen Transportation. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  25. ^ Coppola, Gabrielle; Raymunt, Monica; Eckl-Dorna, Wilfried (June 28, 2022). "Volkswagen Sells Siemens Minority Stake in Electrify America". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022.
  26. ^ Talbot, David (May 13, 2016). "Wireless Charging Is Actually Charging Ahead". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  27. ^ Mearian, Lucas (December 5, 2013). "Toyota signs wireless charging deal with WiTricity". Computerworld. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  28. ^ a b Kane, Mark (March 29, 2019). "Zhejiang VIE to Use WiTricity Wireless Charging in China". InsideEVs. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  29. ^ McMahan, Scott (February 11, 2019). "WiTricity and Qualcomm Partner on Halo Wireless EV Charging". EE Power. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  30. ^ Mearian, Lucas (June 11, 2014). "Intel plans to team up with WiTricity on wireless charging". Computerworld. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  31. ^ Glass, Nick; Ponsford, Matthew (March 28, 2014). "Wireless electricity? It's here". CNN. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  32. ^ Mearian, Lucas (October 13, 2021). "Power play: Wireless charging at a distance arrives". Computerworld. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  33. ^ Low, Aloysius (June 2, 2016). "Dell laptops coming soon with WiTricity wireless charging". CNET. Red Ventures. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  34. ^ a b Phelan, Mark (November 28, 2020). "This new feature is about to make electric cars way easier to use". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  35. ^ Dasgupta, Sabyasachi (May 11, 2020). "Wireless charging for electric vehicles could soon be a reality". Hindustan Times. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  36. ^ Wood, Charlie (June 8, 2020). "Researchers work on the next generation of wireless charging for electric vehicles and mobile devices". CNBC. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  37. ^ Hanley, Steve (November 5, 2020). "SAE Publishes New Wireless Charging Standard". CleanTechnica. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  38. ^ Fine, Ariana. "WiTricity Wins EV Wireless Charging Grant for Detroit Smart Parking Lab". Next-Gen Transportation. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  39. ^ Stone, Tom (March 20, 2022). "State of Michigan announces grants to create a more accessible and electrified mobility future". Traffic Technology Today. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  40. ^ Reyes, Alvin. "2022 Genesis GV60 Could Be The First EV To Have Wireless Inductive Charging". Slash Gear. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  41. ^ Ramsey, Jonathon. "Genesis GV60 to gain wireless charging capability". Autoblog. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  42. ^ Kane, Mark (October 6, 2021). "Genesis GV60 Gets Factory-Installed Wireless Charging Option". InsideEVs. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  43. ^ "Wiferion Enters into License Agreement with WiTricity for Industrial Wireless Charging Applications". Microwave Journal. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  44. ^ "Global license agreement for Wiferion". Handling and Storage Solutions. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.

Further reading

External links

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