A charging amount calculation apparatus calculates an amount of power consumption by a battery for running along a running route and a during-running charging amount received by a power reception apparatus from at least one second power feeding facility. The charging amount calculation apparatus calculates a pre-running charging amount based on the amount of power consumption and the during-running charging amount.

A coil alignment method performed in a vehicle-side coil alignment apparatus coupled to a vehicle assembly (VA) controller includes: moving a light-blocking unit protruding from a vehicle parked in a wireless charging area in a first direction toward the ground facing one side of a vehicle-side wireless power transfer pad which is mounted on the vehicle and includes a VA coil, where the light-blocking unit protrudes from the one side of the vehicle-side wireless power transfer pad; stopping movement of the light-blocking unit in response to a first stop signal from a ground assembly (GA) controller; moving the light-blocking unit in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and stopping movement of the light-blocking unit in response to a second stop signal from the GA controller.

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for positioning a vehicle. An apparatus for determining positioning information for a vehicle may comprise a plurality of receive coil circuits and a hardware processor. The plurality of receive coil circuits is configured to generate voltage signals from a magnetic field. The hardware processor is configured to generate position estimates of a position of the magnetic field generator with respect to a position of the plurality of receive coils. Each of the first sequence of position estimates is determined based upon a corresponding voltage vector derived from the voltage signals and at least one of a plurality of reference vectors. The hardware processor is configured to update the plurality of reference vectors based upon the first sequence of position estimates and a second sequence of position estimates generated based upon a source different from the plurality of receive coil circuits.

A device for inductively transmitting electrical energy between a power supply unit arranged on the shore of a body of water or in the body of water and a watercraft includes a primary coil associated with the power supply unit, and a secondary coil which is connectable to the primary coil for inductively transmitting electrical energy, and which is arrangeable on the watercraft. A height-adjustment device connected to the primary coil is provided in order to hold the primary coil at a consistent vertical distance from a water surface in a vertical direction running in the direction of the buoyancy. A corresponding charging system and method includes: aligning the coils relative to one another; previously or simultaneously adjusting a vertical distance between the primary coil and water surface by with a height-adjustment device; inductively transmitting electrical energy between the coils.

A device for inductively transmitting electrical energy between a power supply unit arranged on the shore of a body of water or in the body of water and a watercraft includes a primary coil associated with the power supply unit, and a secondary coil which is connectable to the primary coil for inductively transmitting electrical energy, and which is arrangeable on the watercraft. A height-adjustment device connected to the primary coil is provided in order to hold the primary coil at a consistent vertical distance from a water surface in a vertical direction running in the direction of the buoyancy. A corresponding charging system and method includes: aligning the coils relative to one another; previously or simultaneously adjusting a vertical distance between the primary coil and water surface by with a height-adjustment device; inductively transmitting electrical energy between the coils.

A vehicular inductive power transfer system includes a power transmission unit and a power receiving unit. The distance between the units and the overall alignment of the units with respect to each other determines the overall efficiency of the energy transfer between the power transmission unit and the power receiving unit. Magnetic fields produced by the inductive power transfer system may exceed allowable standards or regulations for human exposure to electromagnetic fields. An inductive power transfer control circuit autonomously causes an actuator to position at least one of the power transmission unit or the power receiving unit in a three-dimensional space based on one or more measured power transfer parameters. Such positioning may occur while the vehicle is moving or stationary. The control circuit may further autonomously adjust one or more power transfer parameters to maintain magnetic field exposure levels at or below industry standards or governmental regulations.

Systems, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to charging a battery of an electric vehicle while the electric vehicle is hovering. In one embodiment, a method includes, responsive to determining that an electric vehicle does not include a receiver pad, inserting the receiver pad into the electric vehicle that is hovering in the air at a charging station. The method includes determining a space above a transmitter pad for the electric vehicle to hover based, at least in part, on a location and a size of the transmitter pad. The method includes charging a battery to a threshold value through the receiver pad.

Systems, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to charging a battery of an electric vehicle while the electric vehicle is hovering. In one embodiment, a method includes, responsive to determining that an electric vehicle does not include a receiver pad, inserting the receiver pad into the electric vehicle that is hovering in the air at a charging station. The method includes determining a space above a transmitter pad for the electric vehicle to hover based, at least in part, on a location and a size of the transmitter pad. The method includes charging a battery to a threshold value through the receiver pad.

When a vehicle approaches a parking space, a ground controller sets a power transmission coil to first excitation in which the power transmission coil is excited in an excitation pattern containing identification data. When the power transmission coil is set to the first excitation, a vehicle controller acquires the identification data from the excitation pattern received by a power reception coil, and transmits the identification data to a power transmission device. Then, the ground controller determines whether or not the identification data contained in the excitation pattern when setting the power transmission coil to the first excitation and the identification data acquired from the excitation pattern received by the power reception coil match each other. If both pieces of identification data match each other, the ground controller sets the power transmission coil to second excitation.

A method for the exchange of electrical energy between at least two moving, electrically powered vehicles, comprising the steps: providing a first and a second electrically powered vehicle, having a respective electrical energy store, the energy store of the first and the second vehicle can emit or receive electrical energy, and the first and second vehicles move or are to be moved along a first or second route; changing the first and second routes in such a way that both changed routes coincide along a route section; steering the first and second vehicle along the changed first and second route in such a way that both the vehicles move along the coinciding route section at a distance to one another that is smaller than a predefined maximum distance; and transferring electrical energy from the energy store of the first vehicle to the energy store of the second vehicle.