Volkswagen Group announced that its Innovation Hub Knoxville, the company's technology unit for applied materials science in America, has expanded its research collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the largest US Department of Energy science and energy laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT).
The expanded collaboration explores how to integrate breakthroughs in material science and recycling concepts to support electric mobility and sustainable transportation. The first project involves testing ORNL's new high-power wireless EV charging concepts with a Porsche Taycan.
Located on UT's Knoxville-based Research Park at Cherokee Farm, Volkswagen Group of America can tap UT's world-leading research talent, including faculty and doctoral students, who explore collaborative research opportunities and have direct involvement in the company's applied research and development.
According to the company, the interdisciplinary teams have started testing new wireless charging concepts for electric vehicles. Their goal is to develop a higher-power wireless charger through breakthrough designs that focus on electromagnetic waves eliminating interference, thus increasing efficiency.
In the first trials, a prototype system showed a high level of efficiency where up to 98% of the energy used (coil-to-coil) could reach the vehicle battery, the company said.
Using Volkswagen's expertise in vehicle integration, the teams also have been able to build from a charging power level of 6.6 kW up to 120 kW, with a goal of 300 kW – enough to provide an 80% recharge of the Porsche Taycan in about 10 minutes. In addition, the research project aims to generate new insights into the technological and physical hurdles of high-power wireless charging for automobiles.
Other research projects at Volkswagen's Innovation Hub Knoxville focus on advanced functional materials, including composite car body parts and plant-based materials for future interior designs. The team is also working on new recycling concepts for materials conventionally deemed non-recyclable, such as fibre-reinforced composites.
Scott Keogh, President & Chief Executive Officer, Volkswagen Group of America, said, 'Volkswagen is focused to push electric mobility and new technologies for ever-more sustainable transportation. Expanding our research collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee will help drive these efforts.'
The expanded working relationship was just another example of Volkswagen's growing engineering and technology footprint in the United States, he added.
Xin Sun, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Science and Technology, ORNL, said, 'Our unique polyphase electromagnetic coil design and power electronics provide high power transfer levels in a compact system, with the potential to alleviate electric vehicle range anxiety and speed the decarbonisation of the US transportation sector.'
Deb Crawford, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, UT Knoxville, said, 'Volkswagen is a model innovation partner, and understands the value that co-location with a world-class research university creates. Together, we are identifying technological solutions that could lead to a more sustainable future for our planet'.