Wireless Power Transfer and IoT in EV Charging: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has spurred the development of advanced charging infrastructures that are efficient, intelligent, and user-friendly. Among these, Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Systems (EVWCS) have emerged as a transformative solution, enabling contactless power transfer through various Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) technologies, such as inductive coupling, resonant inductive coupling, capacitive power transfer, and magnetic gear-based systems. The review will conduct an extensive evaluation of these WPT methods through detailed analysis of their operational mechanisms and their advantages and limitations for both stationary and dynamic charging applications. The paper will examine IoT applications for EV charging system enhancement through smart grid communication and real-time data exchange and cybersecurity protection. The paper also examines the challenges encountered in the implementation of EVWCS which include technical limitations, health and safety issues, electromagnetic compatibility as well as high cost of deployment. Owing to the summary of the main contributions in existing literature, as well as the development of major research gaps, the paper presents articulated approach to future research to implement secure, efficient, and scalable wireless EV charging infrastructures.