Wave installs inductive charging solution in a Kenworth electric truck

The company name Wave stands for Wireless Advanced Vehicle Electrification. The Ideanomics subsidiary was founded in 2011 and specializes in the development of systems with an output of 125 kW or more for medium and heavy commercial vehicles. According to the company, an important milestone has now been reached: Wave claims to have successfully integrated its inductive charging technology into Kenworth’s US Class 6 electric trucks, specifically the K270E and K370E models. In the USA, Class 6 includes trucks weighing between 8.8 and 11.6 tons.

In contrast to aftermarket solutions, the Wave technology is approved by both the OEM Kenworth and the system provider Dana. The integration therefore paves the way for Kenworth to offer wireless charging ex works as an option for its electric trucks. Wave is not revealing what charging power the system offers for Kenworth. However, as mentioned, the company currently offers systems from 125 kW.

As reported, Wave is planning future developments with 500 and 1,000 kW charging power. Progress is also being made towards this goal: Together with Cummins and the US Department of Energy, Wave is currently developing a 500 kW system. In tests, this is said to have fully charged the battery of a US Class 8 e-truck in less than 15 minutes.

Wave has also announced an order from an unnamed large retail and logistics company to equip BYD’s electric terminal trucks with its technology. It is said to be a joint proof-of-concept project. The project is therefore still being implemented for test purposes. According to Wave, the order is worth around 500,000 US dollars. And: “Following the successful proof of concept, WAVE and the customer intend to deploy the system on a broader basis, both in distribution centres and in other warehouse and medium-haul scenarios, in order to demonstrate the adaptability and versatility of the WAVE system.”

In the mobility industry, some companies are working on inductive charging solutions, but the charging performance is usually more in the range of AC charging – inductive charging technology has not yet become established on a mass scale.

globenewswire.com (Kenworth), globenewswire.com (charging capacity), globenewswire.com (order)