[brightonrock]

Just received this email tonight. Looks like Plugless has plulled the plug (I had to do it) on it's Gen II wireless charging. Too bad, I was really looking forward to this.



Thank you for committing to Plugless and for your patience with us since you reserved your 2017 Chevrolet Volt system. We have made the incredibly tough decision to delay the development of the Plugless system for your Chevrolet Volt. This was not an easy decision but one we feel is the best response to market demand for Plugless and the EV community in the long run.

Here's the background--2016 has seen a dramatic increase in industry partnership opportunities for Plugless. That industry interest is focused on higher power 7.2kW Plugless configurations and larger battery pack EVs. Our goal as a company, from day one, has been to help accelerate the adoption of electrified transportation. We do that by providing wireless charging to as many EVs as possible, as quickly as possible.

The intense interest and complexity of these accelerated partnership opportunities requires our total focus to be successful. So, we have shifted our resources away from the Gen 2 Chevrolet Volt system for the time being. We expect to complete this development in the future, but the timing is not certain. We will certainly keep you updated, and when development resumes you will be the first to know.

Due to this change in direction and timing implications we are fully refunding your reservation. The refund will be processed over the next 7 - 10 business days and mailed to you in the form of a check at the address below. If this address is not correct, please let us know immediately by replying to this email.

 

[Steverino]

IOW, not enough interest to justify the development costs.

 

[DonC]

Bummer. I love the idea of wireless charging but haven't taken the step of adopting it. Sort of waiting for official support.

 

[calebh2002]

I was also interested, but I did not take the plunge because of 1) the wait time, 2) the limited speed of charging, thinking of the future and my next car being able to charge faster that 3.3...

 

[Powered7]

From their message it's not gone, just delayed. Who knows, may be they will have it ready before the end of next year!

 

[eDreamin']

From their message it's not gone, just delayed. ...

To myself, I have been questioning the path that Plugless seems to be taking-- creating a charging model unique to each car.
Wouldn't it be best to create one model that can identify the car being charged? Maybe the EVSE floor unit stays the same, and is capable of high charge rates, with the attachment to the car being unique to the vehicle, and communicating the vehicle's limitations to the EVSE.

 

[chevyman142000]

I too received the email. I was pretty sad reading it. Looks like I'll continue using the one that came with the car with the adapter to charge at level 2.

 

[bro1999]

From their message it's not gone, just delayed. Who knows, may be they will have it ready before the end of next year!

Or they're hoping the Gen 2 Volt gets 7.2 kW charging like the Bolt, so they will have to do less legwork to make a '18 Volt compatible system. Or maybe they just dropped Gen 2 development now that the Bolt is about to become available.

 

[calebh2002]

To myself, I have been questioning the path that Plugless seems to be taking-- creating a charging model unique to each car.
Wouldn't it be best to create one model that can identify the car being charged? Maybe the EVSE floor unit stays the same, and is capable of high charge rates, with the attachment to the car being unique to the vehicle, and communicating the vehicle's limitations to the EVSE.

If the system had been setup this way, I would have taken the plunge. My next vehicle will be either a Bolt or a M3/S and I didn't want to replace all of the equipment to have the faster charging rates. As it stands now my EVSE has the ability to put out 7.2. Some day I will own a car that can take advantage of that.

 

[Paulacton84]

To myself, I have been questioning the path that Plugless seems to be taking-- creating a charging model unique to each car.
Wouldn't it be best to create one model that can identify the car being charged? Maybe the EVSE floor unit stays the same, and is capable of high charge rates, with the attachment to the car being unique to the vehicle, and communicating the vehicle's limitations to the EVSE.

their effort is in the part of the system that bolts into the car, this must be unique for each car, and is likely a substantial amount of effort given the depth of integration that the charging system in each car has with the battery operating system. I suspect that the floor systems are pretty much identical, with maybe 2-3 designs in total, based on the maximum charge rate of the car

 

[acarney]

Sad to hear but hopeful that Bolt and Model 3 are really on their radar and full steam ahead.

Very curious though if someone has been sniffing around to buy them out. I'm surprised there hasn't been an official integration of this tech. Your electric car jumps to the top of the list if you can sell it as "driving range of gas, parking convenience of a gas car, clean benefit of electric!" Honestly, I'm surprised Musk hasn't done this already, it seems like his kind of futuristic ideal.

 

[gadgeTT]

I had reserved a Plugless system for my Gen 2 Volt and am disappointed but wish them well in their other endeavors. I was going to use it to replace the Voltec charger that I bought 4 years ago for my Gen 1 Volt. Given this new development in the Plugless system, I instead replaced the Voltec charger with a new ChargePoint Home unit (16A, hardwire, 12' cord). So far, I'm liking the connected features and the smaller charger, plug-end and cord are a welcome change from the Voltec.

With the new estimation feature of the ChargePoint, I've also confirmed that charging my car at home costs about 25% of the current fuel cost if I were driving a "regular" ICE car; about $0.45 for my daily commute in electricity versus about $2.00 in gas

 

[bro1999]

Could this be why Plugless really pulled the plug on the Gen 2 Volt's wireless charging system?

http://insideevs.com/witricity-now-...ing-with-gm-11-kw-chevy-volt-charging-anyone/

 

[GM Points]

Bummer, that would have been cool.

 

[Chris TX]

Could this be why Plugless really pulled the plug on the Gen 2 Volt's wireless charging system?

http://insideevs.com/witricity-now-...ing-with-gm-11-kw-chevy-volt-charging-anyone/

Wow! 11kW charging for Volt and Bolt! That means it would come with its own charger, and bypass the onboard charger. Very cool! I wonder if the losses in efficiency are similar to Plugless.

 

[bro1999]

Wow! 11kW charging for Volt and Bolt! That means it would come with its own charger, and bypass the onboard charger. Very cool! I wonder if the losses in efficiency are similar to Plugless.

I wonder if 7.7-11 kW wireless charging is something that may be introduced in a refreshed Gen 2 Volt/Bolt. Or perhaps this is something GM is saving for the Gen 3 Volt/Gen 2 Bolt? Interesting times though.

 

[Bacardi]

Or they're hoping the Gen 2 Volt gets 7.2 kW charging like the Bolt, so they will have to do less legwork to make a '18 Volt compatible system.

Exactly what I was thinking...
"industry interest is focused on higher power 7.2kW Plugless configurations"
Maybe even G.M. reached out to plugless to let them know future MY Volts may have 7.2kW

 

[quirkySquirt]

Per the article, I'm guessing this will only pan out for their autonomous "testing grounds". I doubt they'll allow customers to have it installed after the fact. Maybe new custom ordered Volts can have them added from the factory if we're lucky. Us early-adopters of the Gen 2 will be SOL, though.