Autobahn charges e-cars while driving – first test track in Bavaria
Created: 01/12/2023 10:43 am
By: Ulrike Hagen
Charging the e-car with electricity straight from the autobahn – this will soon be reality in Bavaria.
Researchers are planning a test track with an induction track there.
Erlangen – No more waiting for hours at charging stations for e-cars, no trembling on longer journeys because it is uncertain whether the range will still reach the destination.
What sounds like wishful thinking for e-car drivers could soon become a reality with new technology.
The E|MPOWER project by German researchers promises endless range for electric vehicles: The road itself is supposed to charge e-cars - almost incidentally - by induction while driving.
The first test track is now to be built in the south of Germany.
Charging e-cars with electricity directly from the autobahn – this is already being tested in Tel Aviv and will soon be reality in Bavaria as well.
© Electreon
Autobahn charges e-cars while driving – first test track in Bavaria
Anyone who owns an electric car knows the problem.
One of the main disadvantages of electric cars compared to combustion engines, in addition to the range problem - even heat damages electric car batteries and their range - is often the long charging time.
While combustion engines are refueled within seconds, the electric car battery can take hours to fully charge.
Researchers now want to use sophisticated technology to overcome both difficulties.
With the inductive charging technology presented by the scientists from the Chair of Factory Automation and Production Systems at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), concerns about the range of e-cars could soon be history.
Test track in southern Germany to charge e-cars while driving
Together with the partners VIA IMC, Autobahn GmbH, Electreon, Risomat and the Nuremberg Technical University, the scientists want to bring the technology to series maturity.
According to a statement published by FAU on January 9, the consortium has planned investments of around 8 million euros for the project.
The approach of the E|MPOWER researchers: electrified roads that charge the vehicles wirelessly when driving and parking.
Coils integrated in the road surface generate a magnetic field for this purpose.
If a car drives or parks on it, this field induces voltage in the opposing coil installed in the vehicle.
The special feature: The technology can be installed invisibly and - unlike electrified roads with overhead lines - charge both commercial vehicles and cars.
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Electricity from the Autobahn: Inductive roads as a contribution to combating climate change
Global traffic is responsible for around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, which are driving climate change with all its dramatic effects: 2022 was the warmest summer ever measured in Europe.
Development can be slowed down with low-emission mobility such as electromobility.
But e-cars are still struggling with acceptance problems.
After the boom, registrations of e-cars plummeted.
And surveys showed that a third of Germans would prefer to drive with hydrogen.
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The innovative technology with its promise of endless range for electric cars could now change that.
Because: Tricks for a longer range for the electric car in the cold would be obsolete.
And only combustion engines would make a refueling stop on these roads.
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Electricity from the Autobahn: From 2025, e-drivers will be able to test it in Germany
In order to advance the development, the induction system is now to prove itself in southern Germany: "The construction of a test track enables us to test the processes to be developed for automated production and roadway integration and to demonstrate their functionality," explains Kühl.
From mid-2025, drivers will be able to try out the inductive charging technology on a motorway in northern Bavaria - although the first test route, which is one kilometer long, is of course not sufficient to fully charge the e-car.
"Up to now, up to 70 kW of power has been transmitted in comparable tests," says the scientist.
