Remember the wireless charging road that everyone was excited about in 2017? Well, it didn’t happen and the Israeli company behind it, ElectRoad, appears to be defunct. But fret not futurists because another Israeli company, Electreon, has made progress.
Not only does the company already have functioning EV-charging roads in Israel, and in some European countries, but it was revealed last November that these guys have implemented wireless charging roads in the U.S. too.
It is the first wireless charging road in North America, btw, and it can be found stretching a modest quarter-mile (400 meters) road in Detroit’s Corktown. The EV-charging road uses inductive charging to wireless charge compatible EVs as they drive along the wireless charging-equipped roads.
Specialized coils are embedded in the asphalt, which are then connected to power-managing hubs, and interact with the receivers installed under the electric vehicles.
But before you go get ga-ga over it. You have to understand that 1/4 mile is not enough to top up real juice for your electron-hungry EV and also, Electreon is focusing its attention on juicing up public buses and last-mile delivery vehicles. So, no, nothing for your lovely EV, at least not yet.
The idea is to have wireless charging roads in areas where vehicles tend to be stationary more often, such as at traffic lights, and bus stops. In the short stretch over at Michigan, a Ford E-Transit equipped with the receiver demonstrated a charging rate of up to 19 kilowatts.
P.S. We are not sure if Electreon is somehow related to 2017’s ElectRoad. We tried searching but there is virtually zero news on ElectRoad since the big news in 2017.
Images: Electreon/YouTube (MichiganDOT).
