It is undoubtedly the dream of every urban planner and landscape architect: No more electric charging poles and stations, but instead, cars can recharge while driving. This is now possible thanks to a system developed by the Israeli company ElectReon Wireless.
The technology allows electric vehicle batteries to be recharged as they drive along on a specially constructed electrified road. The first test is being carried out in Italy on a kilometer-long stretch of highway between Milan and Brescia.
Electrified road
In a nutshell, Electreon is building the infrastructure by installing copper coils under the asphalt. Energy is transferred directly and wirelessly to the vehicle’s batteries while driving by means of magnetic induction. The system includes a control unit located on the side of the lane of the electrified road. A receiver is installed in the chassis of each electric vehicle that is participating in the trial.
Fewer charging stations
ElectReon is working with more than ten Italian partners to carry out the test. The most important of these is Brebemi, who operate the toll road. The goal of the pilot is to see how the technology will fare on toll roads. Brebemi is footing the bill for the pilot project while ElectReon will supply the wireless electric road system. ‘Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer‘, as the technology is called, will be tested on different types of electric vehicles in both stationary and dynamic environments.
If electric charging while driving became possible on a grand scale, electric vehicles could be equipped with smaller batteries.”
If electric vehicles were able to recharge as they travel along the road, fewer charging stations would ultimately be needed. Another advantage is that if electric charging while driving became possible on a grand scale, electric vehicles could be equipped with smaller batteries.
The Israeli company has already conducted a trial in Tel Aviv. Electrified roads are being experimented with in Sweden and Germany as well. The trial that is now starting in Italy is the first in the world to involve a highway.
Read more about highways being transformed into ‘solar carpets‘.
