America is building a unique highway, charging an electric car while driving – SMARTmania.cz

• Construction of a test section near the city of West Lafayette has already begun, where a magnetic field is to be used for power transmission
• For now, the 400-meter section is to be used only for research purposes, but in the future the technology could be extended to other highways in the US
• It also takes into account the charging of trucks, which now account for a significant portion of ground transport emissions

In cooperation with Purdue University and INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation), an interesting project is being created with the goal of building the first electric highway that will charge passing vehicles. The university directly informed about this project on its website. Construction work on the first test segment began a few days ago. It is supposed to be located near the city of West Lafayette. The first electric trucks will be tested on the 400-meter section, which will be charged via the road while driving.

If the new technology proves successful, similar sections could be extended to many other highways, where they would help to increase the range of electric cars and trucks, especially in remote areas with no charging points. Although similar tests have already taken place in many other countries, this project is supposed to be unique mainly because it is not a normal road, but a highway. Another specialty is that, in addition to passenger cars, it can also charge trucks. They make up a significant part of the emissions from automobile transport, and in general the transition to electromobility is slower in this segment.

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If it will be possible to recharge the trucks directly from the highways, their batteries may have a lower capacity and the overall price of such cars will be drastically reduced. The transmission is supposed to take place using the magnetic field of the coil, so in simple terms similar to the technology we now know for wireless phone charging. However, current vehicles do not have a receiver coil from the factory, so the test cars will have to be retrofitted with this technology. Engineers from Purdue University still have a long way to go, in any case, if the project is successful, it will be a very important breakthrough for the future.