A new road outside of Milan can charge electric vehicles by induction
The technology comes from Israel and is being tested by Stellantis on Fiat vehicles
A new road inaugurated at the beginning of December is able to recharge the electric vehicles that drive on it, making it possible to drive without depleting the battery.
Located on a stretch of the A35 highway about 65 kilometers from Milan, the roughly one-kilometer-long stretch of road will be used to evaluate the potential for charging EVs in real time on a larger scale.
We are proud to bring the "Arena of the Future" to life with partners @Brebemi_A35 @Stellantis @IVECO and more! #electrifiedroadway #EVs #electricvehicles #electreon https://t.co/sAxJguk8S0
— ElectReon (@ElectReon) December 6, 2021
The road uses copper wires installed underneath the asphalt to charge vehicles that drive on it through dynamic induction. The technology comes from Israeli company ElectReon, which was named one of Time magazine’s top 100 innovation companies. A similar process was already evaluated by Volvo a few years ago.
The Stellantis group is testing induction charging on a Fiat 500 on this Italian road and according to the manufacturer, the results are encouraging. That said, it would take at least 10 years to implement such a system in Europe according to several experts, once the technology has proven its value, which is not yet the case. We can’t imagine how long it would take to implement something similar in North America and it’s likely that snow and ice in the northern states and Canada would not help.
Induction charging is one of many EV-related technologies under development. Several manufacturers are evaluating the possibility of offering this type of charging on future electric vehicles. Once the majority of vehicles are able to charge wirelessly, on-road charging would become a plausible solution.
