A new road in Detroit can charge electric cars while driving on it.
Detroit, Michigan, USA celebrated a major milestone in the future of vehicle electrification as crews recently completed installation of the nation's first public wireless charging road.
Using Electreon technology, 14th Street now features inductive charging coils that will charge receiver-equipped electric vehicles (EVs) while driving on the road.
The road will be used to test and refine Israeli company Electreon's wireless charging technology in real-world conditions to perfect it before making it available to the public in the next few years.
The charging road opens the way to solving the problem of electric vehicle range limitations.
Electreon wireless charging technology is based on inductive coupling between copper coils mounted under the road surface and receivers mounted on the underside of the electric vehicles. The road transmits electricity using a magnetic field only when the vehicle with the receiver approaches the charging segments on the road.
These charging segments can wirelessly transfer electricity directly to the car battery while the car is parked (static charging) or in motion (dynamic charging). The electric road is safe for drivers, pedestrians and wildlife. Each coil on the road is activated only when a vehicle with an approved receiver passes the coil. This ensures that energy transfer is controlled and provided only to those vehicles that need it.
Electreon has also installed two static inductive charging stations in front of the Michigan Central Station that will be able to charge Electreon-equipped vehicles while they are parked.
Electreon has 18 projects in eight countries, including driving buses in Israel and electrifying roads in France, China, Norway and Sweden. And Electreon's wireless charging technology on the go was named one of the world's 100 best inventions of 2021 by Time Magazine.
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