with EV charging highways, electreon will overcome biggest challenge of electric vehicles

after successfully testing its EV charging highways in tel aviv, tech startup electreon wireless seeks to transform roads across europe. the ‘electric roads’ will overcome one of the biggest challenges that comes with electric vehicles — the charging infrastructure. the technology will minimize time wasted at charging stations while eliminating ‘range anxiety,’ two factors especially relevant for electric long-haul trucks. the infrastructure is comprised of a network of ‘under-road units,’ or copper coils installed beneath the asphalt. with a 200 meter segment of road electrified in gotland, sweden, the next roadway to be installed will be in northern italy. 

images courtesy of electreon

after successful tests in sweden in january 2021, electreon wireless will soon bring its EV charging highways to italy, along a stretch of road between milan and brescia. the demo in gotland comprised of 1.65 kilometers (over 1 mile) of a dynamic wireless charging system. driving along a 200-meter segment, at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour (37 miles per hour), saw an average transfer rate of 70 kilowatts from the road to the receivers and into the truck’s battery. the 40-ton truck is equipped with five 20 kilowatt wireless modules (100 kilowatts total).

electreon wireless’ EV charging highways function through a system of copper coils embedded in the asphalt. energy from these coils are transferred wirelessly to the vehicle batteries through magnetic induction as the vehicle travels along the road. the charging system does require a control unit to be located on the side of the road and the receiver installed in the chassis of each vehicle participating in the trial. as part of its 2020 test in tel aviv, electreon wireless charged a renault zoe with 8.5 kilowatts while driving and achieved an efficiency of 91%, although the company claims the charge power could rise to 15 kilowatts — the closer the two coils are together, the more efficient the transfer is.