Soon, the electric car that recharges while driving

13/10/22 | Fake off

France will test the recharging of electric cars by driving on the highway

An electric motorway ? France will test the recharge of electric cars and trucks on the A10 motorway near Paris, by testing two technologies which will allow vehicles to drive longer with reduced size batteries therefore less delicious in rare metals. On the one hand, magnetic coils slipped under the bitumen will recharge the batteries by induction, such as mobile phones. On the other, a rail inserted close to the bitumen will allow vehicles equipped to connect to the ground.

These “electric roads” systems could speed up the current revolution in the automotive industry: they allow electric vehicles to drive longer, without stopping to recharge and without dragging too heavy and gourmet batteries in rare materials. “Electric roads” which would reduce the autonomy necessary for normal use of cars from 62 to 71 % and therefore the size of their batteries, according to a study by the University of Göteborg (Sweden). In addition, the savings made on the batteries would largely finance them, according to this study.

First tests in September

On the A10, the idea is to test these high -speed solutions. It is a question of “lifting the last questions which remain, before deploying these technologies on a large scale, on hundreds or thousands of kilometers”, explains Louis du Pasquier, in charge of the project at Vinci. The first tests will be carried out in September 2023 in Rouen on a closed track in Cerema, a public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of the Ecological Transition.

These dynamic charging systems will then be installed four kilometers from the right-wing track in the Paris-Orleans, upstream of the Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines toll barrier. Chargers will only be activated with compatible vehicles.

13/10/22 | Fake off

No, the charging stations for electric cars will not be ..

Soon, the electric car that recharges while driving ?

Dynamic induction recharging suggests a future where the road could supply electricity the vehicles that run through it. The driver would then have an electric car capable of recharging by driving, reducing the need for large capacity batteries and charging stations ..

And if the best way to increase the autonomy of electric cars is to respond to the problem of recharge thanks to road infrastructure ? Induction wireless charging technologies allow you to very seriously consider the creation of roads capable of loading an electric vehicle while it is riding.

Electric cars that recharge while driving: how it works ?

Induction recharging is to transfer energy from an electric coil (wire winding) to another through an electromagnetic field. Applied to the automotive world, it allows you to recharge the battery of an electric car by parking the latter above a dedicated charging plate. Only prerequisites: the car must take on a “receiver coil”, installed in the horizontal position at the chassis, to receive the energy sent by the “transmitting coil” placed on the ground.

Recharge by dynamic induction exploits the same principle but with a moving car. In this model, the car circulates above a succession of emitting coils installed in the roadway. Each reel crossed, it receives electricity during a fraction of a second.

Induction tracks already in testing

The experiments carried out within the framework of the European manufacturing project led to the creation of a induction track In Sory, in the Paris region (France), on which Renault has circulated two Kangoo Z.E. Compatible with dynamic wireless recharge. This experiment has shown that it was possible to deliver a load power of the order of 20 kW to a vehicle rolling at 100 km/h.

The island of Gotland, in Sweden, will welcome by 2022, thanks to the Israeli start-up Electron, an induction road of approximately 1.6 km, which will supply electricity buses and electric trucks ensuring the shuttle between the airport and the Visby center, the island city. The Local Transport Authority hopes to significantly reduce CO2 emissions related to these regular links.

The challenges of the recharge by driving

If the feasibility is confirmed, the dynamic induction recharge still raises many challenges, in particular because its implementation requires close collaboration between several stakeholders, in terms of road infrastructure, the electricity network and the automotive world.

On the technical level, it also implies a reflection on the dimensioning of recharging devices, their financing and their integration into the road, as well as on the exact operation of the transfer of power.

To sustainably modify the energy scheme of the electric vehicle and reduce dependence on batteries, dynamic induction recharging must indeed be able to be shared by the greatest number, that is to say successfully fuel vehicles with very needs different. A trajectory that remains to be traced !

Copyright: Jean-Brice Lemal