Cost-Effective, Lightweight and Low-Profile Charging Pads for Dynamic Capacitive Wireless Charging Systems for Electric Vehicles

Dynamic capacitive wireless charging is a promising technology for powering electric vehicles (EVs) in motion, offering extended range, no charging time, and reduced EV cost due to smaller onboard batteries. This paper explores opportunities for cost, weight, and size reduction of capacitive wireless charging system pads to enable broader adoption. First, different material options for the coupling plates are explored to substantially reduce cost and weight. Furthermore, the shape of the dielectric layer is optimized by strategically introducing cutouts, further reducing the cost, weight, and thickness of the charging pad. This novel design demonstrates potential for a 57% reduction in total charging pad cost, a 79% decrease in weight, and a 37% reduction in thickness, achieved through aluminum foil coupling plates and an optimized dielectric geometry, while maintaining system performance compared to conventional designs. To validate the proposed solutions, four different sets of charging pads for a 6.78 MHz, 12-cm air-gap, 1-kW capacitive WPT system are tested. First the system with dielectric geometry and copper plates, then the same system, where copper plates are substituted by aluminum plates and aluminum foil, and last, the annular dielectric geometry is tested with copper plates.