Electreon Wants To Transform Roadways Into Charging Stations
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
Electric vehicle (EV) sales have sharply escalated over the past three years. However, their overall global market share remains extremely low. It ranges from about 16 percent in China to just 4.5 percent in the US. One of the biggest hurdles to widespread EV car adoption is the fear of running out of charge while on the road. Israeli startup Electreon hopes to eliminate "range anxiety" by transforming highways into Electric Road Systems (ERS) that wirelessly charge vehicles as they drive.
Electreon's proprietary copper coils, embedded inside the pavement, wirelessly transmit energy from the electric grid to a receiver under the vehicle. The battery gets charged whenever an EV drives or stops on the road. For all other vehicles, it serves as a regular road. The company asserts that dozens of cars can be charged simultaneously without putting additional pressure on the electricity grid.
After successful tests in Israel, Sweden, Italy, and Germany, the ERS is now coming to the US. Fittingly, the first electric road will be built in Detroit, Michigan — the birthplace of the modern automobile. The pilot program, spearheaded by the Michigan Department of Transportation, will entail retrofitting a one-mile-long stretch of pavement in Corktown — Detroit's oldest neighborhood — by 2023.
Electreon maintains that widespread implementation of its easy-to-install technology would eliminate "range anxiety" and help drive EV sales. It would also allow for smaller batteries and make EVs more affordable.
But not everyone is convinced that the ERS is feasible on a large scale. For the technology to work, all EVs would have to be equipped with a charging pad, which currently costs about $4,000. The bigger hurdle, however, is the cost of retrofitting pavements. The one-mile-long pilot project in Detroit will cost Michigan a steep $1.9 million, with Electreon contributing the rest.
Sam Abuelsamid, a principal research analyst for Guidehouse Insights, says, "Building this stuff into roadways will add a substantial amount of cost to road infrastructure. We have a hard enough time just paying for normal pavement." The expert also points out that only 90% of the energy produced through the wireless charging is transferred to the battery, compared to the 96% transmitted when using a cable.
Massachusetts-based startup SparkCharge is taking a different approach to solving "range anxiety." The company has built portable EV chargers that fit inside the car's trunk and provide a full charge when needed. Hopefully, the various solutions will encourage more people to switch to clean-energy vehicles.
Resources: Dallasfed.org, michigancentral.com, cbsnews.com, businessinsider.com, axios.com
Get the Workbook for this article!
Workbook contains: Article, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking Questions, Vocabulary in Context (+ answers), Multiple Choice Quiz (+ answers), Parts of Speech Quiz (+ answers), Vocabulary Game (+ answers)Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
79 Comments
- esiksover 2 yearsoh, cool, I have not thought of that.
- tigranover 2 yearsthat was my idea ;(
- infinital_loopover 2 yearsideas cant be copyrighted
- disgurlswimsover 2 yearsThis is cool I wish Electic cars weren't so expensive tho :(
- canobeans21over 2 yearsThe government might fund the creation of electric cars through tax money, even though they might raise tax prices.
- whatsthenewsover 2 yearsAgreed
- uniman10over 2 yearsElectric car producers are doing their best to make them cheaper!!!!
- pinkkitty9over 2 yearsWow!
- nasirk261over 2 yearsthat is so cool
- myself1over 2 yearsI love electronic stuff, I think this would be very cool. But I do know that they would have a lot of roads to cover so this task of making a ton of roads a charging thing could take until 2023. Its not an easy thing to do. But this is REALLY cool!!!
- unipug2over 2 yearsElectric cars are more dangerous than gas cars. They can create awful messes and terrible accidents when battery fluid leaks or even explodes!
- c00lkidddover 2 yearsThat's why they are trying to improve evs so we can use them more.
- musical_nerdover 2 yearsso true stick with gas cars
- unicornsupergirover 2 yearscool
- pynipibo-161073458517over 2 yearsso cool
- pasteleaover 2 yearsThis is such a good idea!!! I hope they come to PA!!!!!