Qualcomm invests in Chargemaster Plc in acceleration for wireless charging in UK

9 December 2014

Qualcomm Incorporated has invested in Chargemaster Plc, the UK’s largest manufacturer and operator of electric vehicle charging points. The two companies have been working together for several years. The move will accelerate the planned UK development, production and deployment of Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) technology, Chargemaster said.

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Chargemaster, based in Luton, designs, develops, manufactures and operates charging points for electric vehicles. It has produced more than 27,000 charging points for use in public, workplace and domestic locations and operates POLAR, the UKs largest network of public charging points.

Chargemaster sees a market for wireless charging pads at domestic, workplace and public locations and the new points will supplement the company’s existing EV charging network. The company has already installed more than 10,000 ‘wireless ready’ public and workplace charging points in the UK and Europe, which can be easily adapted to include the new WEVC systems.

The Qualcomm Halo WEVC technology utilizes resonant magnetic induction to transfer energy from a ground-based pad to a pad integrated into the vehicle. The base pad and vehicle pad are coupled magnetically and energy is transferred wirelessly into the vehicle and used to charge the vehicle’s batteries. The base pad may be mounted on a garage or road surface or buried below the ground. The technology is efficient and is designed to allow easy alignment when parking.

We have been working with Qualcomm for several years now and this investment is a natural progression. We are very excited about helping to bring the next major evolution in electric motoring to the market, making the electric driving experience even more enjoyable and practical for daily use.