Continental will soon be unveiling their solution to the problems faced by many electrical vehicle drivers when it’s time to charge up.
Drivers are often confronted with multiple types of charging stations depending on their location. Single phase AC, three phase AC, and DC power are all offered throughout the United States and give different performance rates. Some cars can not be charged through DC power as well, a situation that can leave a person stranded. This problem has mostly been solved by gas fueled vehicles through universally adopted fueling, many gas stations, and vehicle services such as AAA which can deliver fuel directly to you should you run out gas before making it to the pump.
Continental hopes to provide the technology to accommodate the future of electric vehicles with their AllCharge system. It allows your car to accept all three types of charging stations while maximizing the performance of each. The company demonstrates this jump in performance by claiming that if one minute of AC charging currently lends about 300 meters of range, a car with AllCharge would receive about 4000 meters from the same station in the same time. This is very important, as cities are primarily investing in AC charging while highways primarily in DC.
Continental also points out that the AllCharge system would allow for AC power within the car itself, a fact that would allow most household consumer electronics to be charged by the battery directly.
The company also looks further down the line at the charging of electric vehicles; Continental claims they will soon offer cable-less capabilities. With electrically charged plates embedded in the ground, a driver would simply park over said plate and wait for their car to be fully powered. They could even monitor the progress via a phone application. This would break the current tether that exists between a driver and their depleted car.
