# Wireless charging for electric cars

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [February 17, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836 "2019-02-17T19:26:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 17\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/1 "2019-02-17T19:26:02Z")

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I live in a condo/townhouse where my parking stall is like 300-500 feet around the corner from my first floor apartment and there is no community association charging station. Is there a such thing as wireless charging if I ever wanted to buy an electric car? What are other options? Really long extension cord lol? Wouldn’t that cause problems with the neighbors. Just curious. Thanks

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**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/2 "2019-02-17T19:44:46Z")

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There is such a thing as wireless charging but the antenna needs to be very close to the car. Think, under the car so the large extension cord is still needed.

I suspect your apartment would have some significant issues with the fat extension cord you would need to charge the car. And the charge times would be 8 to 16 hours since you are charging it off 110 volt house power rather than a 220 volt high current charger. And the libility you would have if someone hurt themselves tripping over the cord would be severe.

If you have access to a charging station at work, that may solve the charging problem. Worst case would be planning dinner next door to a charging station a couple times a week depending on how far you drive each week.

I hope you are seeing the problems that the electric car community faces gaining wider acceptance.

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**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/3 "2019-02-17T19:46:06Z")

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Does your complex have any charging stations? Someone needs to supply 230v power to a location first. Any location. Than you can move to next step. I have 230v in my garage. Don’t use it though

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**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/4 "2019-02-17T19:48:46Z")

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Zero charging stations in my complex. They don’t seem interested in putting them in. Not a priority I guess.

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**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/5 "2019-02-17T19:51:22Z")

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No charging stations at work either. But there are a couple charging stations at a mall about 15 minutes away from my house. But I’m only at that mall a couple hours a week.

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**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/6 "2019-02-17T19:52:48Z")

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If you had an electric car, you’d need to be there more than 2 hours a week depending on how much you drive just to charge the car.

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**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/7 "2019-02-17T19:53:55Z")

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I drive like 80 miles a day at least 3 times a week

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**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/8 "2019-02-17T19:56:09Z")

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And with my budget I could only afford something like a Nissan Leaf not a Tesla

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**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/9 "2019-02-17T20:10:41Z")

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Then you need a Hybrid or a fuel efficient small car. A completely electric battery driven vehicle is not applicable in your situation.

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**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/10 "2019-02-17T20:20:35Z")

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Agree with @VOLVO_V70. Probably not applicable for you. The base Leaf only has a 150 mile range. You would need a mall visit 3 times a week at least to recharge.

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**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/11 "2019-02-17T20:40:45Z")

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> [@VOLVO\_V70](#):
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> Then you need a Hybrid or a fuel efficient small car. A completely electric battery driven vehicle is not applicable in your situation.

Yep. An electric is not for you and if you are on a limited budget, you are best to just stick with a conventional gas engine car. They are still 99% of the cars on the road.

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**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/12 "2019-02-17T20:50:24Z")

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Yup I agree. I think that’s one of the limitations of all-electric vehicles. They are still not options for everyone yet. I like some aspects of hybrid vehicles but I don’t like the feeling that the car is quickly and heavily “dying” as soon as I let off the regen brakes. I like to coast. But I like the quiet engines of hybrid/electric and their transmissions

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**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/13 "2019-02-18T00:52:20Z")

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You could get a Bolt, but you would still have to charge it once a week in normal conditions. You could hang out at the mall for a few hours once a week, maybe eat dinner there, while the car charges. You would still need about 9 hours on a level 2 charging station. If they have a D.C. Fast charging station, it would be done in 2.5 hours.

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**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/14 "2019-02-18T01:15:21Z")

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I don’t see a totally electric car as being the right choice for your situation. Hybrid is the way to go.

Your idea of wireless charging would have been greatly admired by the inventor of AC power transmission, Nik Tesla. He experiemented a lot with the idea of a wireless electric grid, transmitting electrical power by antennas, but was never able to perfect it. Most scientists think the idea was never practical and a waste of Tesla’s time and his investor’s money. He had a big complex in Colorado somewhere where some of the experiments were done. OP, you don’t live in Colorado do you ? 😉

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**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/15 "2019-02-18T01:27:41Z")

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> [@D.J](#):
>
> I don’t like the feeling that the car is quickly and heavily “dying” as soon as I let off the regen brakes

I have driven a Prius and I have no idea what that means .

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**Author:** ![D.J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@D.J](https://community.cartalk.com/u/D.J)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/16 "2019-04-21T22:25:50Z")

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Does your Prius “coast” when you take your foot off the brakes? I like the feeling of the car coasting slowly to a stop.

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/wireless-charging-for-electric-cars/134836/17 "2019-04-22T00:26:41Z")

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He had an even larger complex in Shoreham, NY on Long Island called Wardenclyff
