The self-driving electrical car developed by Google will soon be tested on the busy streets of London.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The idea of having to stop and plug in your car was offsetting for many people, this may be the reason for which wireless charging is now tested by Google for self-driving vehicles. The company is looking into a technology that uses magnetic induction in order to charge the vehicles with a beam of energy sent to the bottom of the car.
Three different companies have sent their wireless charging design to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. The three companies have a background in wireless charging research and development.
Hevo Power, which has its headquarter in New York received permission to start research as of February 2015. It is rumored that the company sent an Alpha prototype charger to Google.
Momentum Dynamics, a Philadelphia company, sent ready to be installed chargers in July.
The third company was not publicly and officially announced by Google.
The Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF already have a wireless charging technology, but the equipment requires complex installation on both the outside and the inside of the vehicle. This makes the technology difficult to use at the moment.
But future, more self-reliable electric vehicles are believed to hold the key to success for companies such as Lyft and Uber. Battery cells that will provide the wireless charging will be installed in public places such as parking lots and garages.
But before perfecting the wireless charging technology, Google must first finish perfecting the self-driving electric car. And for that extent, it seems that the company will use the roads of London to test out the vehicle.
According to the transport deputy mayor, Isabel Dedring, London officials have met with Google representatives to talk about the possibility of extending the pilot program to the capital of the United Kingdom.
Ms. Dedring says that that the car will have to perform impeccably in large, crowded cities, so she doesn’t see any reasons for which the testing shouldn’t be done on the busy streets of London.
Google has not yet advanced to that point in their electric self-driving car development, but when the time will come, it seems that the streets of London will be eager to make room for the representative of the transportation vehicles of the future.
A Google car prototype was actually involved in a minor traffic accident a while back. The car was driving along when the test pilot got a bit scared upon seeing a pedestrian and took control of the wheel. After he hit the brakes, the vehicle behind him crashed into the back of the electric car.
There were no major injuries reports from either of the people involved in the accident.
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