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HEVO, a New York-based wireless charging supplier and ORNL licensee, will provide engineering support and circular coil designs for BMW’s bench testing of ORNL’s polyphase wireless charging technology. The program aims to determine whether polyphase systems can improve power density, efficiency and packaging compared with current wireless chargers.
HEVO, a New York-based Tier 1 supplier of wireless charging hardware and software, will work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and BMW in a technology evaluation program focused on advancing next-generation wireless EV charging, the company announced. HEVO will contribute wireless charging expertise, engineering support and circular coil topologies to support BMW’s bench testing of ORNL’s proprietary polyphase coil technology, with the goal of assessing compatibility and performance for future electric mobility platforms.
Under the program, HEVO — an ORNL technology licensee — will supply its circular coil designs and engineering know-how to assist BMW’s bench testing, which will evaluate how those coils work alongside ORNL’s polyphase coil technology. According to the participants, polyphase wireless charging has the potential to improve the power density, efficiency and packaging of wireless charging systems — three factors that determine how quickly a vehicle can charge wirelessly and how much space the hardware occupies on the vehicle and in the ground.
The testing builds on prior collaboration between ORNL and BMW, which have publicly demonstrated advances in polyphase wireless charging systems and explored advanced wireless charging architectures for future electric platforms. HEVO’s role adds a commercial dimension: the company says it will contribute practical experience from commercial wireless charging deployments to help evaluate technologies that could support future EV ecosystems.
HEVO frames the work as part of a broader trajectory in which wireless charging supports automated vehicle operations — vehicles that can charge without a human plugging in a cable. The announcement did not specify a timeline for the bench testing, target power levels, or when results would be published.
Why Polyphase Charging Matters for EVs
Wireless charging is viewed by industry participants as a potential enabler of autonomous and automated vehicle operations, because a vehicle that can charge itself without human intervention — no cable, no plug — is a prerequisite for fleets of driverless cars, robotaxis and automated logistics vehicles. Jeremy McCool, HEVO’s founder and CEO, called wireless charging “a foundational technology for the future of electric and autonomous transportation.”
The technical stakes are also concrete. If polyphase coil technology can deliver the higher power density and efficiency its developers claim, wireless systems could move closer to the charging speeds drivers expect from plugged-in fast charging, while reducing the size and weight of onboard charging hardware. BMW’s involvement signals that a major automaker is actively evaluating whether the technology is ready — or can be made ready — for future production platforms, rather than treating it purely as laboratory research.
ORNL, BMW and the Road to This Program
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy research institution, has spent years developing high-power wireless charging systems, including the polyphase coil architectures at the center of this evaluation. Polyphase designs use multiple overlapping coil phases to transfer power, an approach ORNL researchers say can improve efficiency and power density over conventional single-phase wireless systems.
ORNL and BMW have previously collaborated on advanced wireless charging architectures and have publicly demonstrated polyphase charging advances, which the participants say highlight the technology’s potential for next-generation mobility platforms. HEVO, which licenses ORNL technology, sells wireless charging hardware and software commercially and has deployed systems in real-world settings — experience the company says it will bring to the technical analysis of circular and polyphase systems in this program.
“Wireless charging will be a foundational technology for the future of electric and autonomous transportation.”
— Jeremy McCool, founder and CEO of HEVO
Unanswered Questions About the Testing
The announcement leaves several questions open. It does not specify when the bench testing will begin or conclude, what power levels will be targeted, or what performance benchmarks BMW will use to judge compatibility between HEVO’s circular coils and ORNL’s polyphase technology.
The claimed benefits of polyphase charging — improved power density, efficiency and packaging — are described by the participants as potential outcomes, not demonstrated results of this program. Whether the technology will advance from bench testing to any production application in BMW vehicles is not addressed, and no timeline for commercialization was given. It is also unclear whether the evaluation will produce published results or remain internal to the partners.
What the Bench Tests Could Lead To
The immediate next step is BMW’s bench testing, with HEVO providing circular coil topologies and engineering support while ORNL contributes its polyphase coil technology. The results will determine whether the combined approach is compatible and whether it delivers measurable gains in power density and efficiency.
Further out, successful evaluation could inform the design of wireless charging architectures for future BMW electric platforms and shape HEVO’s commercial product roadmap as an ORNL licensee. Readers can expect updates from the partners as testing progresses, though no dates for announcements have been set.
Key Questions
What is polyphase wireless charging?
It is a wireless charging approach that uses multiple overlapping coil phases to transfer power. According to ORNL, BMW and HEVO, polyphase designs have the potential to improve the power density, efficiency and packaging of wireless charging systems compared with conventional designs.
What is each partner contributing to the program?
HEVO is providing wireless charging expertise, engineering support and circular coil topologies. ORNL is contributing its proprietary polyphase coil technology, and BMW is conducting the bench testing to evaluate compatibility between the two approaches.
Will this technology appear in BMW production vehicles?
That is not yet known. The announcement covers a technology evaluation program only, and neither BMW nor the other participants committed to a production timeline or vehicle application.
Why is wireless charging linked to autonomous vehicles?
HEVO argues that wireless charging is a foundational technology for autonomous transportation because automated vehicles need to recharge without a human operator plugging in a cable, enabling fully automated fleet operations.
Have ORNL and BMW worked on this before?
Yes. ORNL and BMW have previously explored advanced wireless charging architectures and have publicly demonstrated advances in polyphase wireless charging systems. This program builds on that prior work.
Source: rss
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