In 2017, WiTricity began focusing on charging systems for electric vehicles more than consumer technology products.[2] By 2018, WiTricity had partnered with more than a dozen automotive companies, including nine of the world's largest ten, on research and development projects.[10]Audi, Mahle GmbH, and Mitsubishi were among the partnering companies.[6][11]
In 2018, WiTricity was named a New Energy Pioneer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.[12][13] The company acquired the assets and intellectual property rights of Qualcomm Halo and its inductive charging technology in February 2019; the deal included more than 1,000 patents and patent applications,[14] as well as technology designs and licenses, and made Qualcomm a minority owner of WiTricity.[6][15] In late 2020, MIT and WiTricity filed an infringement lawsuit against the Pennsylvania-based company Momentum Dynamics over seven wireless energy transfer patents.[16] The lawsuit resulted in the invalidation of six of the asserted patents, and WiTricity filed a second infringement suit in March 2023.[17]
Funding
Prior to Toyota's investment in 2011, WiTricity had raised approximately $15 million.[18] By April 2013, WiTricity had received approximately $45 million in funding.[1] After additional funding rounds in 2015 and 2018, the company had raised $68 million.[2] WiTricity had raised approximately $88 million in venture capital by early 2019.[14] Funders have included Delta Electronics, Foxconn, Haier, Intel, Schlumberger, and Toyota.[14][19]
In 2020, WiTricity completed a $34 million round led by Stage 1 Ventures with additional participation by Air Waves Wireless Electricity and Mitsubishi subsidiary Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).[20] The round was extended for an additional $18 million raised in January 2021; Tony Fadell was among the private investors and joined WiTricity's advisory board.[21][22]
In August 2022, WiTricity completed another round of funding raising $63 million.[23] The round was led by Siemens which invested $25 million and acquired a minority stake in the company earlier in June 2022.[24][25]Mirae Asset Capital and Japan Energy Fund joined the round along with few other returning investors.[23]
Technology
WiTricity's technology allows wireless power transfer over distance via magnetic resonance.[1]Alternating current (AC) electricity runs through an electromagnetic coil within a charging station to form an oscillating electromagnetic field.[26] Another coil resonating at the same frequency captures the field's energy and a rectifier delivers direct current (DC) current to a battery management system.[3] The technology works through various materials, such as stone, cement, asphalt or wood, and has an energy conversion efficiency end-to-end above 90 percent, equivalent to plugging in.[citation needed] By 2013–2014, electric power output had reached 10 W for mobile devices, 6 kW for passenger vehicles, and 25 kW for fleets and buses.[5][27] WiTricity's EV has charging rates from 3.6 to 11 kW, and the technology scales up to hundreds of kilowatts for heavy duty vehicles such as buses.[28]
Uses
WiTricity has reached licensing deals with Anjie Wireless,[29]Delphi (Aptiv), Intel,[5][30] Mahle, TDK, Toyota,[3][14] and Zhejiang VIE.[28]Thoratec licensed the technology to produce heart pumps capable of charging automatically.[4] WiTricity has demonstrated wireless charging for consumer products such as laptops, mobile phones, televisions,[31] and solar panel receivers.[32] The company has also shown how the technology can be used to power soldiers' helmets with night-vision goggles wirelessly during Humvee transportation.[33]Dell's 2017 launch of the laptop-tablet Latitude 7285 marked the first commercial consumer product to use the technology.[3]
In 2018, BMW's 530e iPerformance became the first vehicle factory equipped with wireless charging,[15] and Hyundai's Kona also demonstrated use of the technology.[10] In January 2019, Honda and WiTricity demonstrated wireless vehicle-to-grid charging at the Consumer Electronics Show.[15] The technology was also being used for the McLaren Speedtail Hyper-GT by 2020.[20][34] In May 2020, China published their national standard for EV wireless charging which incorporated WiTricity's technology,[35][36] and WiTricity played a key role in establishing SAE International's J2954 standard for wireless power transfer.[34][37]
In 2022, WiTricity received a $50,000 grant from the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform and the State of Michigan to install a wireless charging station at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab, operated by the American Center for Mobility.[38][39]
In 2022, WiTricity licensed its technology with Wiferion, which develops wireless charging systems for industrial applications such as automated guided vehicles, cobots, and trucks.[43][44]
