Hands-free charging for electric vehicles (video)

A hands-free charger for electric vehicles (EVs) has been demonstrated at the Ionity test site in Munich.

The charger is the brainchild of Rocsys working in partnership with Ionity, Audi, TUV SUD, Porsche, BMW, Ford, Marquardt Group, AVL, and Huber and Suhner, as part of the Rocin-Eco consortium.

Rocsys says that manual EV charging can be slower than hands-free charging and, as driving is set to become increasingly autonomous - with the introduction of automatic valet parking - manual charging will be n even greater point of friction.

Hands-free charging, in which a vehicle is charged with no manual input from anyone, including the driver, creates a seamless, and effortless charging experience, it argues.

CEO and co-founder of Rocsys, Crijn Bouman, said: “Hands-free charging is an essential part of the future of electric and autonomous mobility. It is more reliable, more efficient, and safer.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with leaders in the auto industry in defining this standard and to see hands-free charging technology get closer to reaching the mainstream following its success we’ve seen in industry deployments to date.” 

The consortium has been demonstrating a prototype and working on feasibility for automatic charging for EVs since 2021, while working with standardisation bodies to make sure it will be interoperable.

Over the past two years, the consortium has laid the groundwork for future products that will automatically recharge EVs resulting in a more efficient operation and a better experience.

The solution will now be subjected to prototype testing and initial rollouts.

New projects originating from the consortium aim to improve and expand the automatic charging ecosystem, by focusing on automatic valet charging.

However, hands-free charging of EVs will be crucial in unlocking the full potential of many autonomous EV operating models, including robotaxis, which currently rely on space and resource-inefficient centralised manual charging hubs. 

Rocsys’ hands-free charging technology is currently deployed across Europe and the US in ports and logistics operations.