Ford Patents Hands-Free Charging
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—Riz Nwosu
Ford Patents Hands-Free Charging
A patent for hands-free EV charging technology filed by the Ford Motor Company in August 2020 has just surfaced online after being published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on March 3. The patented technique is applicable to plug-in hybrids as well as completely electric cars.
This patent centers around a device that would continue to use the factory charge connector in the same way that a typical charger would. However, instead of requiring a human to complete the work, it would simply connect the charging connection to the car automatically.
Upon hearing the news, Elon Musk tweeted this gif at Ford CEO ??
Ford's hands-free charging system is very similar to Tesla's anticipated autonomous robotic charging snake from a few years back. However, the Tesla product never saw the light of day since it was never made into an actual product. As a result, if manufactured, Ford's hands-free charging system might be the first of its kind to charge an electric vehicle.
As someone who has successfully patented a foldable drone design, I can understand some of the complexities and intricacies that go into creating Ford's folding arm design. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, here's my patent:
Fun Fact: Both patents were filed just months apart in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. Go figure ??
The Cold Hard Truth About Winter Charging
More Americans are choosing to buy an electric vehicle, but some EV owners are astonished by how much their vehicle's driving range is impacted by winter conditions.
Getting through the first difficulties of purchasing an EV — the higher sticker price, not knowing where to charge it, or the dread of becoming stuck — is difficult enough. Now add to that the notion that your vehicle is not delivering on the EPA-estimated range that was claimed, and it may very well weaken trust in EVs.
It's important to understand that batteries are like humans. They like the same temperature range as the human body does - room temperature. Anything below 40 degrees Fahrenheit or beyond 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and they won't give their top performance. Simply put, it's it's not T-Shirt weather, you battery will not perform at it's best.
According to battery monitoring company Recurrent, which analyzes data collected from EV owners to compile "battery health assessments" on pre-owned EVs, certain EVs perform better than others in the cold.
Here are their findings:
Recurrent studied the real-world winter driving range of thousands of electric vehicles and discovered that the Tesla Model Y kept the majority of its EPA-rated range in winter.
According to Recurrent CEO Scott Case, Tesla has built more complex thermodynamic systems, including a heat pump to warm the inside. That's because cold temperatures slow down the chemical processes in battery cells, reducing range and increasing charging times.
Also your driving habits have an impact on the range of your EV. If you drive aggressively or prefer to turn up the heat, your estimated range will be reduced. Ironically, traveling simply a few miles each day will reduce your estimated range which sounds counterintuitive.
领英推荐
?? Major Key: One key thing EV drivers can do to enhance their cold-weather driving range is to start the car while it is plugged in to warm up the battery.
The goal here is to warm up (precondition) the battery. That pre-conditioning is quite beneficial since it raises the temperature to a functional level. EVs also use battery power to warm the cabin since they lack heat-producing engines. So try to reduce the use of your heater if you want more range.
Side Note: Ford is proposing a software upgrade that would provide drivers with more information about how to enhance the performance of their vehicles.
600 Mile Tesla is for the Birds, According to Musk
Last week, a Twitter user tried to throw some shade on Tesla by pointing out that Lucid was first to market with a 500-mile EV. Not one to turn the other cheek, Tesla CEO Elon Musk clapped back within minutes. Makes you wonder how he has time to respond to Twitter trolls while blasting reusable rockets into space.
Elon Musk stated that Tesla could have produced a Model S with a range of 600 miles a year ago, but that doing so would have harmed the electric vehicle. It doesn't appear like Tesla intends to produce vehicles with a range of more than 400 miles.
When Tesla originally announced the new Model S last year, it released a new Model S Plaid+, which replaced the old Plaid as the highest performance variant. The Model S Plaid+ was claimed as having a range of more than 520 miles on a single charge and a 0–60 mph acceleration time of less than 1.99 seconds.
However, Tesla cancelled the Model S Plaid+ when Musk stated that consumers don't require more than 400 miles of range.
The Model S Plaid, which replaced the Model S Performance, has a range of 390 miles and a 0–60 mph acceleration time of 1.99 seconds, according to Tesla. That's more than enough for any law abiding citizen.
5 Nuggets
Consider yourself 80% charged. Why 80%? Well, according to legend, charging your battery to 100% repeatedly will damage it faster than you can say...[Insert clever saying here]. See ya tomorrow!
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Written by?Riz Nwosu
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