Juice up from a drone

An EV driver should soon be able to use a mobile app to summon a charging drone if their vehicle has run out of battery power.

The “Volt” drone from Korean designer In Yeop Baek would provide 3kWh, about 16-19km more range, depending on factors like the vehicle, weather, terrain and speeding and driving habits, InsideEVs says. “That is if the drone hasn’t burned up some of that energy on its way to your location.”

It suggests it may be possible to order a whole round of the drones to get enough range to reach a charging station.

“You pay for the service through the app with a credit card and then simply wait for your flying electrons to arrive.”

Amazon patented a similar drone service with the difference that Amazon’s could refuel your EV while you’re still driving, whereas the Volt would land next to the car and you take out the charger and recharge your EV as normal.

In Amazons’ case, the drone wirelessly communicates with and matches speed to the travelling EV. Some type of apparatus would protrude from the vehicle top so the drone could dock and provide the top up needed.

Before seeking the Volt’s services, the user must first register their vehicle information, their location, identify the vehicle type and preferred charging mode.