Toyota and GM Plan Joint Development of
EV Charging System

Washington, D.C.―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION yesterday announced its plans for joint development with General Motors Corp. (GM) of an inductive charging system for electric vehicles (EVs).

The charging system to be jointly developed by Toyota and GM will be based on GM's existing Magne-Charge™ inductive charging technology. It will be combined with a charge paddle (power source side) and charge port (vehicle side) proposed by Toyota for a size reduction to make the system easier to mount aboard EVs.

At present, there are two different charging systems used on EVs: inductive, and conductive. In the inductive system, rather than a direct connection, an electromagnetic connection is created between the power source and the vehicle; in the conductive system, a metal-to-metal plug connector directly connects the power source and the vehicle.

EVs using the inductive system include GM's EV1 and S-10 and Nissan's Altra EV. Those using the conductive system include Toyota's RAV 4 EV and the products of a number of other leading automakers. The various types of connectors used in the conductive system are not compatible with each other.

Toyota and GM expect the jointly developed inductive charging system for EVs to become the world standard charging system and to be used by all automakers.