Design and Implementation of a Cost-Effective Wireless Charger for an Electric Bicycle

Wireless charging is a convenient method of charging Electric Vehicles (EVs). Its application has been widely studied for electric cars but so far there have been limited experiments for electric bicycles (e-bikes). This paper addresses the design process and implementation details related to a wireless charger for a specific e-bike. Some issues such as the position of the secondary coil or the control algorithm prove to be crucial to the performance of the wireless transfer. Concerning the placement of the secondary coil, the paper proposes and validates a theoretical model to quantify the effects of the surrounding interfering materials. A CC-CV (Constant Current - Constant Voltage) control algorithm has been implemented to validate the theoretical results in these two charging phases. The control, the coils and the compensation networks have been designed to be simple and robust. The theoretical model, the charger and its control have proven to be effective in a real 84-W e-bike.