Why charging while driving could lead to cheaper EVs and zero range anxiety
The idea is not new and faces several challenges, but charging while driving could lead to smaller car batteries and thus cheaper electric vehicles. It could also help eliminate the other big hurdle that has turned consumers off adopting EVs: range anxiety.
Much like the wireless charging of smartphones, the system uses inductive coils embedded beneath the road. EVs designed to use the roads are charged as they drive by an electromagnetic field generated by the coils. Vehicles continuously charge on the go so they don't need to stop to juice up the EV's battery, which takes much longer than filling up a petrol or diesel car.
While EV battery capacity and range have improved, innovative charging solutions are key to making them more viable for widespread use and helping reduce air pollution.
The concept of 'electric roads' has been around for decades with traditional trolleybus systems, but inductive charging eliminates the need for overhead power lines.
Charging while driving could reduce the reliance on large, heavy and expensive batteries in trucks too. This could lead to lighter lorries with increased payload capacity and reduced energy consumption.
Wireless charging roads could integrate with autonomous driving technology, allowing for continuous operation without human intervention for charging.
Pilot projects of electric roads are under way in various parts of the world, with trials focusing on passenger and commercial vehicles.
In Norway, a stretch of road near a bus depot in Trondheim has been equipped with inductive charging technology for electric buses. It allows buses to be charged wirelessly while they are parked or moving slowly, eliminating the need for physical connectors and reducing downtime for charging.
There are drawbacks too, however, which is why the widespread implementation of electric roads with dynamic wireless charging is still in the testing phase in various parts of the world.
One of the main stumbling blocks is expensive infrastructure, as building and maintaining electric roads infrastructure on a large scale would require significant investment.
An Israeli company called Electreon that is piloting wireless charging technology has installed magnetic inductive coils in roads at nearly $2m (R37m) per 1.6km.
Trials have been conducted in several countries seeking a national electric road network, including a 2022 UK dynamic wireless power transfer feasibility study, dubbed DynaCoV, which found that dynamic wireless charging was three to 10 times more expensive than conductive charging and is not financially feasible.
The Swedish Transport Administration electric road programme in 2024 similarly recommended against funding a national electric road network in that country as it would not be cost-effective.
Ensuring efficient and high-power transfer to vehicles moving at highway speeds is also a technological challenge, while the charging infrastructure embedded in the road needs to be robust enough to withstand heavy traffic and varying weather conditions — and easy to maintain.
The French government's 2023-2027 study of electric roads found that in-road inductive charging infrastructure caused excessive strain for road surfaces using standard road materials.
Ensuring the safety of road users from electromagnetic fields is another major consideration, as is establishing industry-wide standards for wireless charging technology and road infrastructure, which would be necessary for interoperability between different vehicle manufacturers.
These are major challenges, but as EV sales gain traction around the world, convenient charging solutions are becoming increasingly critical, and the exploration of electric roads with wireless charging is a potentially transformative step.
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