Wireless Road Charging for EVs to Debut in 2023
Roadway-embedded wireless charging for electric vehicles is coming to a stretch of urban highway in Detroit, marking a pilot-program first on a U.S. public road. “Our electric vehicle receiver units are modular and compatible with passenger vehicles and with light-, medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles,” said Oren Ezer, CEO of Electreon, based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Michigan is expected to operate the first electrified roadway in 2023. Electreon’s patented wireless in-road EV charging technology already is in use with various European demonstration projects, including a 0.7-mile (1.05 km) intercity toll road in Italy and a 1-mi (1.65 km) public road in Sweden. Sweden’s policymakers aim to have 1,243 miles (2,000 km) of electrified roadway in operation by 2030. Detroit’s electrified roadway will be near Michigan Central, a mobility-innovation district under development by Ford Motor Co.
“The wireless charging infrastructure will support a suite of use cases involving various vehicle types, including autonomous vehicles, and it will support partners, like Ford,” noted Jim Buczkowski, the company’s executive director of Research and Advance Engineering.