2023-07-15 06:20:00
France will test the charging of electric cars and trucks on the A10 motorway near Paris, by testing two technologies that will allow vehicles to drive longer with smaller batteries that therefore consume less rare metals.
On one side, magnetic coils slipped under the asphalt will recharge the batteries by induction, like mobile phones. On the other, a rail inserted flush with the asphalt will allow equipped vehicles to connect to the ground.
These “electric road” systems might accelerate the revolution underway in the automotive industry: they allow electric vehicles to drive longer, without stopping to recharge and without dragging heavy batteries that consume rare materials.
These “electric roads” would reduce the autonomy necessary for normal use of cars by 62 to 71% and therefore the size of their batteries, according to a study by the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). In addition, the savings made on the batteries would largely finance them, according to this study.
First tests in September
On the A10, the idea is to test these solutions at high speed. It is a question of “removing the last remaining questions, before deploying these technologies on a large scale, over hundreds or thousands of kilometers”, explains Louis du Pasquier, in charge of the project at Vinci. The first tests will be carried out in September 2023 in Rouen on a closed Cerema track, a public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
These dynamic charging systems will then be installed on four kilometers of the right lane of the A10 in the Paris-Orléans direction, upstream of the Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines toll gate. Chargers will only activate with compatible vehicles.
The Mont-Blanc motorway (Haute-Savoie) will also soon be testing a “scrubber” solution, originally developed by Alstom for trams. Vehicles equipped with a retractable device collect electricity from a supply track inserted into the wearing course of the roadway. The “electric road” will be essential to quickly electrify heavy goods vehicles, which still run heavily on diesel, according to reports submitted to the Ministry of Transport in the summer of 2021.
Technological barriers
Enthusiastic, Patrick Pelata, former manager of Renault, explains that the “electric road” allows “a strong decarbonization of long-distance road transport as electricity is decarbonized in Europe”. It also has, he assures, “excellent energy efficiency, a continuous power supply that does not degrade the operating conditions of trucks and a significant reduction in the size of the batteries of heavy goods vehicles making long journeys”, while by “drastically” reducing the need for charging stations.
Technological barriers, however, remain to be removed: according to reports made to the ministry, induction is not very powerful and expensive, while the rail can become clogged and pose problems for two-wheelers, in particular. In addition to induction and conductive rail, a third solution is being tested in Germany, using a catenary, as for trams: it is “the most technically advanced” but it only supplies trucks, and necessary roadside pylons pose road safety problems, according to a report submitted to the Ministry of Transport.
The startup Electreon, which supplies the induction system, already has projects in Israel, Sweden, the United States and Italy, where Fiat is testing the charging of a small 500. The Elonroad consortium, which supplies the rail, the testing since 2019 in southern Sweden. The experiment on the A10 will be spread over three years for a budget of 26 million euros, with the support of the France 2030 public plan via the Public investment bank (BPI).
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