Four ways to charge electric vehicles using UWB technology

In this charging technology for electric vehicles (EVs), long-range radio wave wireless communication (Ultra-Wideband, UWB) is showing great potential to bring unprecedented convenience to the automotive industry, but this is just the beginning. UWB technology has proven to be a revolutionary technology in the automotive industry, especially in smart car access control, where it has become one of the most widely used cases. However, the application of UWB technology is not limited to this. It can also be combined with technologies such as security, accurate real-time positioning and short-range radar, allowing automakers to transform a single UWB-based system into a multi-functional platform, using the same set of hardware equipment to realize a variety of different application scenarios.

With the continuous development of UWB technology, automakers are able to use smart car access control systems to implement functions such as Child Passenger Detection (CPD), seat belt reminders, and trunk kick-sensing opening. This not only greatly simplifies the development process, but also allows new functions to be added through software upgrades, thereby effectively reducing the overall cost of ownership and accelerating the market promotion of products.

In the near future, UWB technology will be widely used in the charging of electric vehicles. If UWB technology has been used in other functions, then when charging the car, you only need to use the existing infrastructure and park the car on the charging plate to complete the charging without adding additional hardware costs.

Here are four main ways to use UWB technology for EV charging:

Manual charging of electric vehicles

In this mode, UWB technology will help us determine the relative position between the charging infrastructure and the car, and guide the driver on how to use the manual charger. Once the driver successfully connects the charger to the car, the charger will provide personalized charging information after confirming the driver's identity. In addition, UWB technology can also be used to automatically unlock, open, close and lock the charging cover.

Automatic conduction charging under the electric vehicle

By installing UWB transceivers on both the car and the charger, we can accurately estimate the exact position of the charger relative to the car. The car can then be parked precisely within the working range of the robotic charger. As soon as the car is parked in place, the automatic charging process can be started immediately.

Electric vehicle lateral automated conduction charging system

This charging method has many similarities with the automatic charging method under the car, but the most significant difference is that when charging manually, the charging port needs to be used repeatedly and needs to be combined with a robot to achieve accurate positioning and charging process. To achieve this goal, the robot will use UWB technology to accurately locate the charger access point on the side of the car to complete the charging operation.

Electric vehicle wireless charging technology

In the implementation of wireless charging of electric vehicles, UWB technology will accurately align the magnetic coil at the bottom of the car with the corresponding charging coil in the charging plate. Then, it will use the principle of resonant electromagnetic induction to achieve efficient transmission of electrical energy. Since there is an air gap between the charging coils, the alignment of the car and the charging plate is particularly critical. The use of UWB technology can effectively ensure the alignment accuracy of the two.

Application of UWB technology in electric vehicle charging

UWB technology has the precise, safe and real-time positioning capabilities required for electric vehicle charging. Although there are other methods to achieve positioning for electric vehicle charging, UWB technology stands out with its extremely high security, excellent performance, excellent positioning accuracy and highly competitive cost advantages. It is worth mentioning that UWB technology has long become a mature technology in the automotive industry (such as smart car access control), and there are corresponding standardized specifications.

Expanding the possibilities of existing UWB platforms

NXP provides UWB technology support with its Trimenion product portfolio, which is a comprehensive UWB solution that enables secure and accurate distance measurement in multiple fields such as automobiles, mobile devices and IoT devices. The precise ranging and positioning capabilities of Trimenion products bring accurate positioning experience and convenient use experience to many application scenarios, including secure access control, indoor positioning, device-to-device communication and item tracking.

As the first UWB single chip designed specifically for the automotive market, Trimenion NCJ29D6A combines secure positioning and short-range radar functions in one, and adopts an integrated MCU design, allowing automakers to meet various application requirements with only one UWB system. It is expected that major automakers will begin to deploy this single-chip device in the near future and plan to officially put it into use in new models launched in 2025.

Get more return on your UWB technology investment

Smart car access is undoubtedly one of the most widely used scenarios for UWB technology, but the potential value of this technology goes far beyond this. Automakers should view ultra-wideband technology as a core technology that can realize various current and future functions. In addition to applications such as smart car access, child left-behind detection and kick sensing, electric vehicle charging is also a critical function.