Automotive

In-road inductive charging tests demonstrate unlimited EV range

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Tests with an electric Fiat New 500 have confirmed that in-road inductive charging can deliver theoretically unlimited EV driving range
Stellantis
Tests with an electric Fiat New 500 have confirmed that in-road inductive charging can deliver theoretically unlimited EV driving range
Stellantis
Workers place down inductive charging coils as the Arena Del Futuro is constructed
Stellantis
Under the asphalt, the DWPT system has a series of inductive charging coils
Stellantis
The Arena del Futuro was built to develop and test a number of future-forward vehicle technologies
Stellantis
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The world's fifth-largest automaker has built and tested a charge-as-you-drive system – a loop of road in Italy with wireless EV charging coils embedded under the surface, so that electric cars can charge as they drive and unlock unlimited range.

Stellantis, parent company of Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, Maserati and many others, is a founding member of the Arena Del Futuro project in Chiari, a 1,050-meter (0.65-mile) loop of road near the Chiari exit of the A35 Motorway, about half an hour outside Milan in northern Italy. This "Arena of the Future" was built to test a number of forward-looking transport technologies, including advanced 5G connectivity and IoT ideas, V2X communications and road surface optimizations.

But its primary goal was to test and prove the capabilities of wireless on-road charging systems like Stellantis's Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWTP) technology. To install the DWTP, some small grooves need to be cut into the road surface, so that a series of flattish inductive charging coils can be laid down and connected to a power supply. Then, asphalt is poured back over the top.

Under the asphalt, the DWPT system has a series of inductive charging coils
Stellantis

When active, the coils send power to vehicles passing overhead, provided that they've been fitted with a receiver. Interestingly, at this stage it appears the energy is sent straight to the car's electric motor. So rather than charging up the battery, the DWTP system simply takes over supplying energy, so that EVs above can cruise along at highway speeds without burning any battery.

Initial tests are complete, and Stellantis says the power transfer efficiency is "comparable to the typical efficiency of fast charging stations." The magnetic fields involved, says the company, have "no impact on the driver and passengers," and are safe for pedestrians to walk through. Running on DC means the DWTP can use relatively thin, compact cabling, and it can also be directly and efficiently connected to renewable energy sources without the need to convert back and forth from AC.

So it can be done, and it works. But there's no word on whether, or when, the DWTP system will be rolled out on public roadways. Getting a project like this off the ground at commercial scale poses a series of chicken-and-egg problems, and may well end up costing more than it can bring back in revenue. These things will only make sense if they're rolled out on very long stretches of high-traffic highway, if drivers can be accurately billed for their use, and if enough people buy compatible cars to make them worthwhile.

The Arena del Futuro was built to develop and test a number of future-forward vehicle technologies
Stellantis

So positive test results aside, it seems we're still several expensive leaps of faith away from seeing in-road charging become commonplace. Stellantis says the technology "attracts interest for commercial development globally," since it can also be built into static EV charge stations, parking lots, airports and the like, but there's nothing concrete announced as yet.

Check out a video below, which shows how they lay this stuff down.

Source: Stellantis

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24 comments
Static
cha ching, dollar signs are poping up in the eyes of greedy CIOs and CFOs.
We will never make it because green cost too much an 98% of humans are poor.
Strick
Billing shouldn't be a problem. Just expand on toll-tag technology used in modern toll roads. That would also help states tax road usage to compensate for the loss of fuel taxes that support road maintenance. The real question is how to set usage rates fairly and avoid consumer surprises. Oh, and the usual real efficiency, additional power generation requirements, infrastructure issues, etc.

"it can also be built into static EV charge stations, parking lots, airports and the like, but there's nothing CONCRETE announced as yet" - Freudian pun?
Gizmowiz
But with different materials and densities will the roadway hold up to pounding by big Semi trucks with 80,000 lb loads and 100 psi tires in 125 degree heat of summer in the desert SW and minus 30 degree cold of Minnesota?. When roadways have sewer lInes and cables installed in middle of lanes they frequently have harsh rough surfaces that are annoying.
Ron
You have to be kidding, from what I looked at in the video the cost of this thing would be outrageous as demonstrated by the length of the test track (.65 miles) and what happens if the circuit is damaged. After a great deal of research I have come to the conclusion that Hydrogen is a much better answer. Solar and wind power could be used to create the Hydrogen and the conversion would not require a whole revamping of the power grid, which by best estimates would require 1/3 more power generation to enable electric vehicles.
EJ222
This seems... impractical? Thats a *lot* of copper in the road for the coils, and maybe even more copper for the EVs to haul around.
Expanded Viewpoint
It's totally amazing to me, that they needed to actually BUILD this boondoggle to prove that it won't work!! Just thinking about how roads are built and why, and knowing about the laws of physics, should have put the kibosh on it right away. And just where is any upside to this "solution" to anything? How do they know for a fact that human health won't be harmed by it, when no real world testing and observation of the facts has been done?? These less than stellar IQ people need to wrap their body in coils of wire, and then hook them up to a big battery charger and turn it on. Then after several months of having their body exposed to that magnetic field for a couple of hours per day, they can give us reports on any detrimental effects, or if they have turned themselves into Iron Man.

Randy
Jinpa
Embedded wireless charging for EVs (cars, trucks, buses) has been in development and use for years, primarily in commercial settings. Examples: Momentum Dynamics and Siemens. Providing power to such a system will be a challenge, especially in remote settings like long rural highways. Getting enough cars to use it to pay off the capital cost seems unlikely, as was the problem for the Better Place battery-exchange plan. High density of cars would be required.
Santi
Only possible in high density roads (ring roads) where payments might offset the astronomical costs, but in those cases most drivers don't need to charge at all.
Maybe small sections 1 mile/km every 20/30 miles/km in middle density roads?
I wonder if you can drive 1 min on top of a 200KW charger you could theoretically get a very small amount of charge 3.3Kwh and extend your range by almost 20km.
Paumanok
The blockchain as applied here would point toward basic iron ore ferrites as a low cost, high yield solution and begs the question of other parts of the technical-economic equation. In Europe, where towns are far apart, dedicated roads like dedicated rail make real sense. But it signifies a shift in the concept of what could be called "Fuel" and further justifies that the invasion of Ukraine was a robbery designed to gain access to the iron ore fields around Poltava. Clearly someone is using blockchain as a tool here, most likely an excellent former chess player. For the oligarch in all of us.
Eggster
As someone who lives in the land of cheese, freeze and road salt, I just cringe when I consider this. The regular freeze-thaw cycles here (which are actually becoming far more frequent) shorten the life of roads dramatically. Imagine the cost to maintain and replace such a system under these conditions!