Indian’s Wireless Powered Heated Clothing Concept

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Indian proposes riding gear that is wirelessly charged via bike-mounted inductive coils. (Indian Motorcycle/)

There’s no doubt that modern heated clothing and ideas like heated seats and grips make cold-weather riding far more palatable than it was just a few decades ago—but there are still improvements to be made and Indian Motorcycle is working on the idea of using wireless, inductive-power-transfer tech to elevate on-bike comfort to a new level.

Wireless charging is something that most of us probably already use or are familiar with, whether for phones or electric toothbrushes, but there are ideas circulating that take the same idea to a much greater extreme. Several automobile companies are even experimenting with wireless charging for electric vehicles, for example. But Indian’s latest patent application shows some lateral thinking on the subject, implanting inductive coils into key areas on a motorcycle where they can transfer electricity to heated or cooled clothing to make riding a more comfortable experience in extreme climates.

Related: How To Stay Warm On Your Motorcycle

Various charging points would be built into the riding gear to pick up charging from the motorcycle. (Indian Motorcycle/)

Heated clothing isn’t a new idea, of course, but it usually requires either battery packs—adding weight, cost, and bulk, and the risk of a flat battery just when you need it to be charged—or a wired connection to the bike. Similarly, plenty of bikes already have heated grips and/or seats, but these also have problems, not least that in cold weather you’re likely to be wearing thick, insulated clothes that prevent that heat from efficiently reaching your skin.

Contact points on the handgrips, seat, or floorboards could transfer power to the heated clothing. (Indian Motorcycle/)

Indian’s patent application combines the idea of routing electricity to key contact points like the bars and seat, even the backrest and the footboards, with the idea of heated clothing using inductive coils to transfer power from the bike to your clothes. Of course, that means you’ll also need new riding gear that’s compatible with the motorcycle, but the benefit is that it provides the direct, near-skin heating of electrically heated clothing with the in-bike wiring and bar-mounted temperature controls that you’d normally associate with heated grips or seats.

The same patent also suggests the inductive power could be used in conjunction with sensors fitted to your riding kit to constantly monitor your temperature as well as other factors, like air speed, humidity, and even your heart rate to provide a sort of automatic climate-control system, ensuring you’re comfortable at all times without the need to constantly turn the heating up or down.

An additional idea is to have a powered charging mat that would keep the motorcycle’s battery charged while parked in your garage. (Indian Motorcycle/)

Furthermore, the document suggests the bike itself could use inductive charging, with a receiver in the end of the sidestand and an outlet-powered charging mat for owners to put in their garages. Simply park with the sidestand on the mat, and the bike’s own battery is charged and maintained automatically. BMW filed a patent application for a similar idea a few years ago, but with a focus on recharging electric motorcycles.

While some aspects of Indian’s patent seem a little far-fetched, for instance the use of a heart-rate sensor in the clothing, the essential idea of using inductive-power transfer for heated motorcycle clothing is one that might offer a significant improvement over the currently available options, though the very existence of a patent application suggests the best of all worlds—a standard wireless system shared across multiple motorcycle brands and clothing companies, making the same clothing compatible with different bikes—might be harder to reach.

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