An elevator system includes a car arranged to move along a hoistway and a wireless power transfer system that includes a secondary resonant coil mounted to the car and configured to induce an electro-motive force and output a voltage or current, and a plurality of primary resonant coils distributed along the hoistway and configured to transmit power to the secondary resonant coil when a primary resonant coil is adjacent to the secondary resonant coil and is selectively energized. A control system of the wireless power transfer system is configured to select and energize the plurality of primary resonant coils, and includes a plurality of switches with each one being associated with a respective one of the plurality of primary resonant coils. The plurality of switches are configured to selectively close to energize a selected one of the plurality of primary resonant coils associated with a location of the car.