Science and Tech

The roads "load" They are the great hope of the electric car. And Germany has the first ready

A robot that hides in the ground: Continental's idea to advance wireless electric car charging

The electric car charging It continues to be one of the main drawbacks cited by those who are reluctant to buy a vehicle of this type. This drawback is even above the price of vehicles and it is not surprising seeing the complications that you can have on a bad day.


The solutions that have been sought are many. From ultra-fast chargers, like the one that NIO intends to install in Europe, or plugs on the sidewalks, to tests with wireless charging that facilitate parking and allow us to “forget” about the plugs.

But what about charging and driving at the same time? Tests with roads that allow charging by induction continue. We will see the next one in Germany, during the Balingen State Garden Exhibition that will take place between May 5 and September 23 of this 2023.

some old acquaintances

For now, this road with wireless charging will be launched at the aforementioned event and as explained in Auto Motor and Sport, will be 400 meters in which the bus prepared for this technology will have two spaces to recharge its batteries (in addition to the two stops at the ends). Later, the system will be extended to reach one kilometer in length.

The project is promoted by Israeli company Electreon, who are also working on similar projects also in Germany, on a motorway near Cologne, in Lombardy (Italy), Sweden and, of course, Israel. Also, other companies like stellantis they are also doing research with this technology in private laboratories and Detroit is building such a space.

The problem, for the moment, with this type of technology is that the recharging power is still very limited. At the moment, the recharging standards that are being studied (while stationary) limit this to 11 kW or, what is the same, slow recharges that require more than seven hours of recharging for a car with a 70 kWh battery.

Added to this is the cost of installation. The investment for the new German project is estimated at about three million euros per kilometer, to which must be added the maintenance of a much more complex infrastructure. To get a better idea, the resurfacing of the streets of Madrid involved 15 euros per square meter in 2021.

It must be taken into account that in Spain we know well what high-cost roads are. Already in 2013 the Court of Accounts He estimated that the construction of each kilometer of road in Spain cost 11 million euros. It would be necessary to check if installing this type of technology on a highway like those in Spain, which have to fight with a complicated orography, would increase its cost or not, compared to doing it in a controlled environment such as the German exhibition space. as well as the possible maintenance and wear of the infrastructure with the comings and goings of the bus.

Photo | electreon

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