The Mercedes family of cars are undergoing a major change next year and the 2017 Mercedes Benz S550e possibly teases a plug-in hybrid future for some of the models.
A latest report from the industry confirmed that the new plug-in hybrid ready to hit market next year will feature wireless charging system. It is going to be the first car in the market to use the WEVC technology, wireless electric vehicle charging on a hybrid system. Nissan, Chevrolet and Tesla are already busy experimenting with the idea.
In a video released in the past, Nissan showcased how wireless charging could automatically be activated as soon as the car is parked on top of the sensor. Most of them are working on allowing electric cars to make use of the technology. However, the 2017 Mercedes Benz S550e is about to apply it on a plug-in hybrid system.
The components and other add-ons required to implement it for the S550e will be supplied by a company that has already licensed the Qualcomm Halo tech. The technology was originally developed by Qualcomm for BMW i8 Formula E safety car. It has been proven successful and the same will be rolled out to the Benz model. In order to identify a parked car, resonant magnetic induction is used through which the power is transferred from the charging pad to the car.
Based on input power produced, efficiency of the Halo will increase according to Qualcomm. The current setup uses a 3.6 kW system which is more than enough for a plug-in hybrid model like the 2017 Mercedes Benz S550e. It is powered by an 8.7 kilowatt per hour lithium ion battery.
While there are lot of technical details that go into making these wireless charging pads, they are more capable and efficient when it comes to allowing companies to charge electric vehicles. They have much bigger battery capacity and Qualcomm confirmed that they are working on creating more powerful output pads, that can charge a Tesla car as well as similar cars in the segment.
Cars which can run up to 250 miles or more on a single charge demand 150-kw fast chargers in order to be fully charged within a short period of time. The future pads will be more sophisticated with the capability to identify an animal or any other intrusion that crosses the charging field. More safety features are expected to be added to this wireless charging tech.