Inductive Charging for EVs: How Static and Dynamic Wireless Charging Works

If charging an electric car without a card sounds convenient, imagine doing it without even plugging in a cable. That’s what inductive charging is about.

Is it possible? Yes.

Is it economically viable? Not really.

Inductive charging in different forms is already actively tested in Germany, France and other countries. However, a lot of earlier projects have already been abandoned. Discover more about how inductive charging works, what the pros and cons are and whether all electric cars can be charged this way.

• Inductive charging can be static (when the car is parked) or dynamic (when the car charges while driving over equipped road sections).

• Static wireless charging is expected to be only about 1 - 2% less efficient than conventional wired charging stations.

• High upfront investment is one of the main barriers to inductive charging.

Inductive (also called wireless or contactless) charging for electric cars is a way to charge the vehicle’s battery without making physical contact between the charger and the car. The energy is transferred from a pad on the ground to a receiver coil on the vehicle, so everything happens without a cable.

Let’s make something clear from the start: An electric car needs to have the receiver coil in order to be charged that way. Retrofitting a car is theoretically possible, but it’s not likely to become a common practice. Here’s how it will probably happen: once the technology is more widespread, EV manufacturers will start adding the receiver coil to their new models. In addition, software needs to be adapted to this way of charging.

Inductive charging uses electromagnetic induction instead of wires to transfer energy from a charging base to an electric car. Basically, the charger creates a magnetic field, and the car’s coil picks it up – electricity flows and the battery charges.

Two terms you need to focus on in this section to get everything are:

• transmitter coil

• receiver coil

The charging pad contains the so-called transmitter coil. When alternating current (AC) from the grid or renewable energy sources flows through this coil, it starts changing direction of its movements several thousand times a second, and that’s how a magnetic field is created. When, during this process, another copper (in this case, it’s the receiver coil located inside an electric car) comes close to this magnetic field, alternating electric current immediately starts flowing into it. It’s then converted into direct current (DC) in the vehicle's on-board charger, just like when charging with an AC wallbox, and is used to charge the battery.

Inductive charging can happen when the car is parked (static) and when it’s moving (dynamic).

Static inductive car charging works similarly to wireless charging of phones and other small devices. You simply park your vehicle above a ground pad, and charging starts. This sounds like a real lifesaver in bad November weather, sparing you the effort of fumbling with wet cables in the rain or the cold.

Dynamic inductive charging means that coils are embedded in the road surface along a stretch of highway or city street. Provided that permission has been given in advance, the car can charge while driving over the energised coils.

That concept alone can give you goosebumps, but such a way of charging is indeed possible. There’s more to how it works. Keep reading to find out.

Inductive charging doesn’t mean that energy just starts flowing into your EV battery with no control. Before any high-power electromagnetic field is generated, a low-power, high-frequency wireless communication link must be established.

This layer of “conversation” between the car and the pad makes it feel reassuring from a safety perspective. The vehicle and the pad communicate using a standard protocol to exchange critical data:

To pay for static wireless charging, we assume users need to sign an agreement with charging station operators and provide their payment details. Overall, it is expected to follow the ISO 15118 standard, just like Plug & Charge. So, ideally, your car just takes care of payment, and you get the kind of frictionless experience we all love.

For dynamic wireless charging, the system will be more complex. You can’t be expected to check charging prices and decide whether to charge - and how much - while driving. That’s why you will likely have the option to set some preferences in advance. For example:

• The driver might be able to specify “Do not charge if the price exceeds €0.40/kWh.”

• The driver might be able to set a monetary limit: “Stop charging after €20.00 has been consumed.”

• The driver might be able to define a state-of-charge goal: “Charge only when SoC < 30%.”

Dynamic charging will also require a roaming solution. It will probably work the same way as regular public charging. You have a contract with your e-Mobility Service Provider (eMSP), which is basically the company that manages your charging account. When you drive on a dynamic charging road, your car uses its digital certificate (via ISO 15118) to identify you as a customer of that eMSP. The road operator, known as the Charge Point Operator (CPO), can then send the cost of the charging session to your eMSP, and your eMSP includes it on your single, combined bill.

Billing might actually be one of the hardest regulatory hurdles to solve before dynamic wireless charging becomes a thing. Obviously, you must be able to verify that you are only paying for the exact amount of energy you consumed. It calls for strict legal standards. Currently, in the EU, they are designed exclusively for stationary meters.

Static inductive charging is only 1 - 2% less efficient than regular wired charging, as proven by MAHLE. Energy losses for dynamic charging will be higher because neither can the moving vehicle maintain perfect alignment over continuous embedded coils, nor can it lower the air gap.

One might assume that wireless systems would waste far more energy. In fact, according to a 2010 report by the Fraunhofer Institute, early wireless charging systems achieved only around 80% efficiency, compared to roughly 95% for conventional conductive (wired) charging.

The most important factors defining efficiency are the alignment between the two coils and the distance (air gap) between them. Unlike your smartphone, which you can place directly on the pad, there is something preventing you from doing the same with a car — the tyres. The closer and better aligned the vehicle is, the higher the efficiency. That’s why…

a) charging losses for dynamic inductive charging will likely be significantly higher

b) for static charging, some systems mechanically reduce the air gap - either the coils in the ground rise, or those in the vehicle lower

c) for static charging, EV manufacturers consider implementing automated parking, where you leave the car near the charging pad and the vehicle adjusts itself to be placed precisely over the pad

In testing, inductive charging has achieved very high power levels: 270 kW and above for static charging, and 300 kW and more for dynamic (in-motion) charging. For typical home use, a much lower power of 11 kW is more likely to become the standard.

For instance, Porsche has announced the Cayenne Electric, set to launch by the end of 2025, which will support static wireless charging with up to 11 kW. In the meantime, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), working with Volkswagen Group of America, have recently wirelessly transferred 270 kilowatts to a Porsche Taycan. Unfortunately, this discovery does not carry a lot of meaning for regular EV drivers since

a) the demonstration used a specially modified Porsche Taycan, a high-performance EV built to handle such massive power

b) the car that already costs €180-200k needs at least €20k upgrade to be able to charge inductively.

Inductive charging is being tested in France, where a 1.5 km highway powers vehicles while driving; in Germany, with a 92%-efficient wireless parking pad; in the U.S., through Detroit’s pilot road; and in Norway, where Oslo taxis charge wirelessly while waiting.

Early projects like the BMW 530e iPerformance wireless charging system were successful pilots (3.7 kW) but were not rolled out for mass-market production and have concluded.

For public transport, the Braunschweig "Emil" inductive bus project (200 kW) remains a long-running operational success, but other German cities like Berlin have abandoned the technology for their main fleets.

The widespread adoption of many pilot programs is primarily hindered by financial reasons. Nevertheless, several countries continue to invest in and advance the technology.

First dynamic wireless-charging pilot for EVs in real traffic. 1.5 km test section delivers 200 - 300 kW to electric vehicles while driving.

Near the town of Angervilliers, approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Paris, VINCI Autoroutes and Electreon have installed special coils under the road. These coils wirelessly charge vehicles while they’re driving. The road delivers 200 - 300 kW of power. Since each activated segment is powering the vehicle above it, the system can handle many vehicles charging simultaneously along the entire 1.5 km stretch, with each car receiving the full power it is capable of taking.

Real vehicles, including trucks, vans, buses, and passenger cars, all fitted with the special receiver coil hardware from Electreon, are already using it every day. The project demonstrates the potential of inductive charging to reduce CO₂ emissions and use fewer raw materials for battery production. We also expect it to provide more insights into the topic of energy losses in wireless charging.

Current status: Prototype vehicles are currently driving on the 1.5 km test section to evaluate the system's performance in real traffic conditions. France's Ministry of Transport aims to have 9,000 km of electric road systems by 2035.

MAHLE’s inductive static charging system and ultra-precise positioning technology (DIPS) were approved as the global SAE standard*, achieving 92% efficiency.

The company has developed a static inductive charging system, where energy transfers through a magnetic field and works fine even if the pad is covered by snow or leaves. Moreover, MAHLE has developed the Differential Inductive Positioning System (DIPS), which guides cars to within one centimetre of perfect alignment. This way, it ensures over 92% charging efficiency, just like a wired charger. 

For future EVs with automated parking features, the DIPS software will directly interface with the vehicle's parking control unit.

Current status: Christopher Lämmle, Head of the Charging Systems Project House at MAHLE, says that the first systems based on the new standard will hit the market about three years after its official release.

* The system follows the SAE standard, which ensures interoperability. This means a car from one manufacturer can reliably charge at a charging pad made by a different infrastructure provider, as long as both comply with the SAE standard.

Detroit has become the first US city to pilot a road for wireless EV charging. 

On a quarter-mile (approx. 400 m) stretch of 14th Street in Detroit, electromagnetic coils are embedded beneath the asphalt. They transfer energy wirelessly to electric cars fitted with special receivers. It’s part of Michigan’s plan to build a carbon-neutral transport network by 2050. The project was started in 2023 with a cost of about $2 million per mile, which obviously raises questions about scalability. On this, experts comment that it’s not meant to deploy everywhere. It's to be very strategic in where it makes the most sense, where the good business models are.

Current status: Right now, the project is still in the early testing and research stage. In November 2024, Electreon expanded its Detroit pilot project to include last-mile delivery tests with UPS and electric truck maker Xos.

25 Jaguar I-Pace taxis in Oslo are being inductively charged using Momentum Dynamics’ 50 - 75 kW wireless system.

EnergiCity project in Norway has been testing wireless charging for 25 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles since 2019. Instead of plugging in, these taxis charge automatically while waiting for passengers. The system delivers 50 to 75 kW of power, which is much faster than standard AC charging. The inductive chargers are designed to work in all weather conditions, even snow.

Current status: We haven’t found any updates about the project later than 2020, which indicates that the taxi fleet is likely still operating in a testing mode.

At the moment, inductive charging does not make sense financially, neither for car manufacturers nor for drivers. While the EU is looking for ways to make electric vehicles more affordable, switching to inductive charging and giving new models costly upgrades would undermine the goal.

The problem that can be solved with inductive charging is reducing battery size (hence addressing the decarbonization challenges), making charging easier (no fumbling with cables) and saving drivers' time on the road (no stops for charging, even though you will probably make stops for coffee breaks anyway). None of those reasons improves the affordability of EVs. No matter how good a strategy is, it won’t work if only a few can afford it.

In the Shared Charging project, led by go-e, inductive charging is also being considered. The project aims to create a network of charging stations that is as widespread and user-friendly as today’s gas stations, with the added advantage of being powered by renewable sources such as solar and wind energy. It has received €6.4 million in funding, with a strong focus on making the installation of each charging point as financially affordable as possible. Unfortunately, inductive charging offers limited prospects in this regard.

Inductive EV charging requires higher upfront capital expenditure compared to conventional Mode 2 and Mode 3 chargers. They can become potentially cheaper to operate over time thanks to their durability, automation, and lower maintenance needs.

Here’s where the initial costs come from:

• Equipment

Wireless systems are pricier because both the ground pad and the vehicle need special electronics to transfer power using high-frequency AC (around 85 kHz).

• Installation

Setting up the ground pads involves a lot of work — trenching, laying concrete, and other steps similar to installing wired stations.

• Safety features

These systems also include sensors for Foreign Object Detection (FOD) and Living Object Detection (LOD), plus magnetic shielding, all of which add to the cost.

The wireless EV charging market was worth around $1,172.28 million in 2024 and could potentially grow to over $4,119.51 million by 2034. The market is predicted to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.64%. Other forecasts suggest even higher growth rates.

Static wireless charging is likely to become widespread before dynamic charging, as it is more affordable. In addition, static charging makes compliance with current and upcoming regulations simpler. It allows for a gradual rollout, starting with private stations where complex vehicle authentication is not always necessary.

For most consumers, static wireless charging will likely remain a luxury feature for several years after it’s declared market-ready. It will probably appeal mainly to owners of high-end EVs, such as Porsche. Yes, you won’t notice any difference in the vehicle with embedded receiver coils, but you will notice a significant difference on the price tag when you buy it.

Another potential user group is businesses. For example, taxis could charge wirelessly while waiting for customers, without the driver needing to leave the vehicle. This would allow them to top up their battery bit by bit, instead of spending more than 15 minutes at a charging point when new orders are coming in. In Nottingham, the Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis (WiCET) project ran in 2022 - 2023. It is now marked as completed, which probably means the inductive chargers used in the project are no longer in operation.

Dynamic charging, on the other hand, may take longer to develop. And even then, it will be most relevant for heavy-duty vehicles that follow fixed routes. For them, it can increase uptime and reduce costs by eliminating stops and manual plug-ins. However, the very high costs make widespread adoption unlikely in the near term.