2023-07-16 05:08:00
Charging electric cars (archive)
special
using magnetic induction.
Paris – AFP
Posted on: July 16, 2023: 09:08 AM GST Last updated: July 16, 2023: 10:15 AM GST
On a motorway near Paris, France begins testing a system it calls “electric roads” for charging electric cars and trucks, with two technologies that allow vehicles to drive for longer using smaller batteries that consume less trace metals.
Magnetic rollers under the asphalt recharge vehicle batteries by magnetic induction, just as mobile phones are charged wirelessly with the same technology. As for cars, they are equipped at the bottom of their bodies, which are close to the asphalt, with a catch-up iron plate that allows them to be loaded from the road.
These “electric road” systems would accelerate the ongoing revolution in the electric car industry, as they enable electric vehicles to run for a longer time without stopping to recharge their batteries, and dispense with extremely heavy batteries that consume a large amount of scarce materials, according to what was reported by the agency. “AFP”.
These “electric methods” allow for reducing the size of car batteries, according to a study by Sweden’s University of Gothenburg. In addition, the savings achieved with regard to batteries allow their financing to a large extent, according to this study.
The trials on the French motorway aim to test the effectiveness of this technology in the event that cars are traveling at high speed. The test will contribute to addressing the last remaining issues “before this technology is deployed on a large scale, hundreds or thousands of kilometers away,” explains Louis de Pasquier, project manager at the French concession and construction giant Vinci.
Option for trucks
The first tests will take place in September 2023 in Rouen, in western France, on a closed loop of the “Cerema” state agency, which is supervised by the Ministry of Ecological Transformation. These freight systems are then placed four kilometers from the A10 motorway near Paris. The charging system only operates when compatible vehicles equipped with the catch plates are passing by.
Also, on the Mont Blanc highway in central France, a technology developed mainly for tramways by the Alstom railway company will be tested, according to which vehicles get electricity from a feeder track included in the overlay of the road.
Electric road technology will accelerate the transition to an electric option for heavy trucks, most of which still use diesel, according to reports submitted to the French Ministry of Transport in the summer of 2021.
Hurdles
“Electric roads” allow “significantly reducing carbon emissions in long-distance road transport while reducing carbon emissions from electric power in Europe,” explained former Renault official Patrick Bellata.
He said that this solution provides “excellent energy efficiency, continuous electrical supply that does not deteriorate the conditions of truck use and a significant reduction in the size of the batteries of long-haul heavy-duty cargo trucks,” in addition to significantly reducing the need for charging stations.
However, there are technological barriers that still need to be overcome. Reports submitted to the Ministry noted that magnetic induction is inefficient and expensive, in addition to the fact that the iron plates at the bottom of the vehicle can become clogged, causing problems for motorcyclists in particular.
In addition to the magnetic induction and conductivity sheets (used in the Montblanc experiment), a third solution is being tested in Germany, using overhead tramway wires. A report submitted to the Ministry of Transport indicated that this solution is “the most technically advanced”, but it is only suitable for trucks, in addition to the necessary roadside towers posing road safety problems.
The French highway experiment will span three years, with a budget of 26 million euros.
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