Qualcomm and Renault sign MOU on Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Technology

Qualcomm Inc. and Renault today announced a MOU wherein both companies will have joint access to Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Technology (WEVC) where London trials and studies of this technology on Renault vehicles are concerned. Late last year, Qualcomm had announced WEVC trials in London and various stakeholders, government agencies and private establishments showed interest in this technology.

The basis of these trials was to evaluate commercial viability of wireless electric vehicle charging and its use on WEVC vehicles. Together with Renault, Qualcomm hopes to make charging of electric vehicles easier and less time consuming, besides making it easily accessible to all electric vehicle users.

Qualcomm showcased its latest technology “Qualcomm Halo Systems” as the last EVS26 meet. This intelligent wireless charging technology allows better tolerance to misalignments. The company is new set to start this trial project from the second half of 2012. Anthony Thompson, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at Qualcomm is excited of this new prospect and the fact that they will be working in conjuncture with Renault – the global leader in electric vehicles and low carbon vehicles. Together these companies hope to bring out faster and less time consuming charging of Renault electric vehicles, which will go a long way in ensuring their feasibility and practicality in the world of today.

News release: Qualcomm and Renault Announce Memorandum of Understanding on Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Technology

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) and Renault s.a.s, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning their cooperation on the WEVC London trial and preliminary studies of the integration of Qualcomm Halo WEVC technology into some Renault vehicles. Renault will also join the London trial steering committee.Qualcomm announced in November 2011 a Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) trial in London to commence in 2012 that is supported by a cross section of stakeholders from government departments and agencies, to commercial and private sector enterprises. The objectives of the trial are to evaluate the commercial viability of wireless EV charging and gain user feedback on the use of WEVC enabled vehicles.

“We are very excited to be working with Renault, a global leader in Electric Vehicles and an innovator in the growing low carbon vehicle market,” said Anthony Thomson, VP, Business Development and Marketing at Qualcomm. “Renault’s participation in the WEVC London trial and Qualcomm’s drive to make charging of electric vehicles simple and effortless means that EV drivers will have access to technology that makes EV charging easy.”

“Our participation in the WEVC London trial with Qualcomm complements Renault’s European research & development project involving 10 partners to demonstrate wireless inductive charging of electric vehicles in a public environment with a high level of performance and safety,” said Jacques Hebrard, VP Energy and Environment Advanced Projects Director at Renault. “The deployment of wireless inductive charging requires inter-operability between cars and ground systems within common European and, hopefully, worldwide standards”