AbstractIn near‐field energy transmission, wireless power transfer based on magnetic coupling resonance is preferred. For efficient power transfer, the quality factor of magnetic coupling resonance wireless power transfer (MCR‐WPT) system should be kept at a high value, which makes the system sensitive to frequency detuning. Different from conventional approaches dealing with the problem in linear MCR‐WPT system, this paper proposes a novel MCR‐WPT system, which is based on Van der Pol nonlinear resonant circuit to address the problem of frequency detuning. A nonlinear resistor is introduced, and the nonlinear Van der Pol MCR‐WPT system is established. Based on the mathematical model and the theoretical analysis, it is found that the frequency band is broadened. To validate the performance of the proposed system, extensive simulation and experimental work are conducted. Unlike the traditional linear system, which only peaks at the resonant frequency, the results show that the output of the proposed system is still high within a certain frequency band when the operating frequency deviates from the original resonant frequency. The impact of frequency detuning caused by variation of capacitance is also studied. It can be concluded that the proposed MCR‐WPT system is effective in coping with the frequency detuning.