Volvo today announced that it will start testing a wireless charging technology for its electric vehicles. The tests will be conducted in Gothenburg, Sweden, and take over three years. Over the three years, Volvo will use its a few fleet of XC40 Recharge electric vehicles as taxis by Cabonline, the largest taxi operator in the Nordic region, to test the wireless charging technology. The special wireless charging points will be installed throughout the city over this period.

The test was outlined within the Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative, under which the designated areas throughout the city will be used as live testbeds for the development (via ArenaEV). The new solution and the partnership will allow the company to build new sustainable technologies.

“Gothenburg Green City Zone lets us try exciting new technologies in a real environment and evaluate them over time for a potential future broader introduction,” said Mats Moberg, head of Research and Development at Volvo Cars. “Testing new charging technologies together with selected partners is a good way to evaluate alternative charging options for our future cars.”

Volvo says that Momentum Dynamics will deliver the charging stations. The charging will automatically start when a car parks over the charging pad, embedded in the street, allowing the drivers to charge their vehicles without getting out of their cars.

The charging stations will send the energy through the charging pad, which will be picked up by a receiver in the car. Volvo says that it will use its 360-degree camera system to align vehicles precisely over the charging pad. The wireless charging power will provide more than 40kW, which isn’t the fastest system around, but it’s still faster than the 11kW wired AC charger, and nearly as fast as the 50kW DC fast charger.

During the test, the Volvo EVs will be used for more than 12 hours a day, and they will drive approximately 100,000 km (62,000 miles) each year to test the durability of the new electric vehicles and the new wireless charging solution.

In other but related news, Sony and Honda announced a special partnership that will see the two companies work closely together. The partnership will allow the two giants to develop Electric Vehicles, and step up the infotainment game by a notch, thanks to Sony’s specialty in speakers, displays, and sensors.