As electric cars grow in popularity, there are greater questions than ever being asked about how to charge them.
Will there be enough charging points? What about if I can’t plug in at home? These are valid questions, but a German company might just have the answer thanks to a new concrete road that is able to charge EVs as they drive along.
Developed alongside the Indiana Division of Transportation (INDOT), the system works by burying electrified wire coils into the concrete road. This creates a magnetic field and works in a similar way to how the best wireless smartphone charging plates work.
Vehicles will then be fitted with a receiver coil, which, as the car drives along, is able to pick up the charge and draw electricity from the coils.
The project will be completed in three phases, with the first stage expected to begin later this summer. Magment, a company specialised in wireless induction, and which will be creating the road, says it will be the world’s first wireless charging concrete highway once it’s up and running.
The first two phases of the project will take place on pavements, before a quartermile-long testbed of highway is introduced on a road. If proven successful, a yet to be determined stretch of Indiana highway will be fitted with the technology.
Indiana’s governor Eric J. Holcomb, said: “Indiana is known as the Crossroads of America and we’re committed to fortifying our position as a transportation leader by innovating to support the emerging vehicle technology.
“This partnership to develop wireless charging technology for highways sends a strong signal that Indiana is on the leading edge of delivering the infrastructure needed to support the adoption of electric vehicles.”
