Wytheville, VA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- July 18, 2012 - The first three installations of the plugless electric vehicle charging technology have been completed in the Apollo launch program.

These installations, on Nissan LEAF vehicles, represent the first passenger electric vehicles in the world with full wireless charging capability.

Drivers at the three installation locations – in Charlotte, NC, Greenville, SC, and Park Ridge, NJ – have been trialing the vehicles for the past month, since installations began in early June, and will continue to test the systems throughout the next three months. An additional three installations will be completed in July with partners from California to Washington, D.C.

The Apollo program was launched by Evatran, developer of the Plugless Power technology. Partners include Duke Energy, the Hertz Corporation, the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), and Google.

The program, which kicked off in February, follows six commercial partners as they trial wireless charging technology installed on their own Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF vehicles, in a variety of real world applications.

“Our goal in launching this one-of-a-kind initiative was two-fold,” commented Tom Hough, Evatran’s chief executive officer. “We wanted to get this game changing technology into the hands of real electric vehicle drivers and we wanted to show the market that wireless charging technology can encourage electric vehicle adoption on a large scale.”

The Plugless Power technology is based on electromagnetic induction, which utilizes magnetic fields to transfer power between two coils – in this case one on the floor of the garage and the other on the underside of the vehicle. With Evatran’s proprietary control software and coil designs the efficient transfer of power is extended over an air gap of as much as seven inches. These prototypes require zero user interaction, and charge the vehicles as quickly as traditional corded chargers, functioning at over 90 percent efficiency.

The results of the program will be compiled in a case study to be released at the end of the summer to further the industry’s understanding of wireless charging technology.

Evatran is now accepting partners for the second phase of the Apollo program set to launch in the next six months. Partners must have Nissan LEAF or Chevrolet Volt vehicles in their fleet and be willing to drive the equipped vehicles on a daily basis.