ONLINE CHARGING VEHICLES
HOVER IT TO COVER IT
There’s a term in football (the American version where you use your hands) called an ‘end run,’ which means the ball carrier tries to run around the end of the defensive line. It also works to describe what has mostly been the pattern of technological advancements throughout time. When obstacles seem insurmountable, the most innovative look for a workaround.
Over the next few posts, we’re going to look at the “Electric Avenue” while trying not to get that song stuck in our heads. Boy, does that sound like a no-brainer solution to the EV charging infrastructure dilemma? Who wouldn’t want an electric car if it charged simply by driving it overcharging coils buried inroads?
It’s happening, including in Detroit, Michigan, where North America’s first stretch of inductive-charging road just opened.
It’s not the tech itself that’s a hurdle, but all the things around it – installations, appropriations, and vehicle modifications – and, of course, acceptance of a major transition. In places like the US, where the aging transportation infrastructure means construction zones are a regular part of the scenery, it’s not hard to imagine the pushback. The climate change battle cry is “every solution!” Yet there are only so many resources to go around. Even among a willing public, progress can stall when the options overwhelm.
Electric cars have been around for almost two centuries. EV charging stations since 1914. Climate change awareness has accelerated recent momentum, but the struggle for transition remains real. Is it time to switch gears? Do we have time?
Dynamic charging could solve a lot of issues, from overcoming EV range anxiety to conserving natural resources and pollution with smaller batteries.
South Korea introduced wireless EV charging a decade ago with a prototype that powered public buses on inner city roads. The OLEV (online electric vehicle) platform got a lot of attention when the Korea Institute of Science and Technology introduced it. However, the batteries in the converted diesel buses were problematic. In 2021, a new pilot project began, starting with EV technology.
In 2018, wireless chargers were embedded in two kilometers of a Chinese highway that was paved with solar panels and covered with translucent concrete to test OLEV there.
Also that year, Sweden built a 21-kilometer, temporary e-roadway. This past summer, the government announced that electric highways would become permanent, followed by 3,000 more kilometers by 2035.
That’s when the EU’s zero emissions law kicks in.
In Detroit, vehicles can recharge while in motion or parked along a quarter-mile of 14th street in Michigan Central, where Israeli startup Electreon is testing its technology (as it does in Israel and several European cities). The test site is in the new mobility innovation district, a 3-acre hub swirling around Ford Motor Company’s Michigan Central Station restoration, where innovators and disruptors from across the globe can work on urban transportation solutions.
As we dive in further, we will look at how electric avenues work, safety and reliability, and what it means for carmakers and buyers.
