2017 Mercedes-Benz S-550E To Offer Wireless Charging

When the plug-in hybrid variant of the S-Class was launched last year, we learnt that Mercedes-Benz is working hard to equip the S-550E hybrid with wireless charging technology. That dream is on the verge of becoming a reality with Mercedes-Benz launching the face-lift of its S-Class luxury sedan in 2017. The S-550E variant will receive wireless charging with Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) tech.

The WEVC system will be supplied by a Tier 1 (name unknown) power electronics company that has licensed Qualcomm Halo technology. This Halo tech, Qualcomm says, was tested and further developed by the BMW i8 Formula E safety car. However, unlike the safety car in the racing championship, the Mercedes-Benz S-550E will be the first mass-produced car to feature wireless charging. With the car, customers will receive a charging pad on which the car has to be parked for it to begin charging itself. This will surely curb the tedious task of attaching the car itself with any wires. The charging pad will be plugged into the electricity mains and will make use of Qualcomm’s Halo technology, which uses resonant magnetic induction to transmit energy. Underneath the car, there will be a laptop-sized energy receiving pad which will juice-up the batteries.

Qualcomm says that its Halo tech is comparable to conductive charging’s 90 per cent efficiency rating, which can be improved further with an increase of power at the energy source. Up to 800 volts is available for performance applications, but most of the time the voltage is stepped down to 400 volts for real-time usage. Rather than installing fast-charging spots to charge up huge batteries packs on-board, the tech giant sees frequent charging at lower speeds as the best application of its Halo technology. Qualcomm is working on an on-road inductive charging system to display the viability of a future highway charging framework. Capable of transmitting power up to a height of 250mm from the charging pad, the tech is capable enough to cover most of the cars on sale today.