The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) recently announced plans to build a very crazy new wireless charging system as part of a research project. The pilot project will install wireless charging technology embedded in the sidewalk on a quarter of a mile of road so that vehicles can be charged while driving (or parked). This is not the first time someone has tried such a thing, but this is the first time the US Department of Transportation has undertaken a confirmed project.

The project will be divided into three phases, the first two phases will be carried out before the technology hits the streets. Other than who is doing the work, there are not many details provided, including INDOT, Purdue University, and a German company called Magment, which produces—as the name suggests—magnetic cement. 

Magment's description of how the system works

The program will run two phases of testing and analysis, which are mainly done by Purdue University, as you would expect from the research project. When there is enough data processing to determine how to best implement the project, on the basis of testing, then the third stage sees that things actually start to happen on public roads.

The quarter-mile test site has not yet been selected because this is part of the problem to be solved in the first two stages, but our idea is that when all of these are covered, INDOT will work with Magment’s panel to specialize Test them for heavy-duty trucks, charging 200 kilowatts and above. 

Once all this is done and assuming it goes smoothly, then a larger highway section somewhere in the state will get the first real roll-out. We don’t know how far we are, because there is no timetable for the first three stages.

Magment's technology works with coils embedded in magnetized cement boards. Vehicles that want to be charged through this system also need to install a similar coil on its base, which will then be connected to any on-board charging system. In theory, whether the vehicle is stationary on the magnetic pad or not, this allows the charge to be quickly transferred between the ground coil and the on-board coil.

Indiana’s idea is to install charging pads as a wireless charging option in parking lots and highways, so that drivers can charge quickly by running, or they can charge their vehicles more thoroughly by parking, all without having to do it. Disorder different charger systems. Of course, the premise is that they have installed Magment undercarriage coils.

There are currently 207 charging stations in Indiana, and only US$5.5 million was invested this week to expand the charging stations, so this is a very significant project compared to just building more charging stations. Although the data has not yet been released, this is a large-scale infrastructure experiment compared to the rather casual charging construction dominated by manufacturers and service providers.

Uh, a rendering of a concrete block. Pretend you can see its magnetism.

This is not the first public wireless road charging planned. A project in Gumi, South Korea, was launched in 2013, where two buses can be charged via a wireless section. But to be fair, this is more like a radio car than what Indiana proposes. Israel announced a similar project in 2017, although it does not appear to have achieved results.

Norway is doing this, which is not surprising for the country with the highest penetration rate of electric vehicles in the world. Its neighboring country Sweden is also taking action, using the copper coil technology of the Israeli company ElectroEon to successfully carry out some wireless charging roads. test. Italy has also announced its own world’s first wireless charging highway project, so it can be said that this is an unbelievable event for the current charging infrastructure-but at the underground level.

Are there any story tips? Email me hazel@thedrive.com

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