Q TRENDS – A highway that will charge electric cars is being tested in the United States, by Indiana’s Department of Transport (INDOT).
The wireless charging technology can be installed in the pavement, allowing electric vehicles to charge while they drive. With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), INDOT has teamed with Purdue University and German company Magment on the project to carry out the research in three phases, firstly testing if the magnetized cement (called “magment,” naturally) will work in the lab, then trying it out on a quarter-mile section of road.
The final phase would be to test charging heavy trucks operation at high power (200 kilowatts and above).” If the final quarter-mile test track is a success, INDOT says it will use the tech to electrify an undermined segment of public interstate in Indiana.
The idea behind this new type of road would work on the basis of a new specialized type of cement created with magnetized particles embedded in the surface, which could provide a fast and efficient charge for electric vehicles (EVs) while moving on that specific route.
But so far the technology has been relatively expensive and inefficient.
As part of the announcement, Magment stated that this type of highway offers “record-breaking wireless transmission efficiency [at] up to 95 percent,” adding that it can be built at “standard road-building installation costs” and that it’s “robust and vandalism-proof.”
Sources: Endgadget, INDOT, Interesting Engineering
