Electreon wireless EV charging technology would soon be set up in Germany. It is the Balingen project, an electric bus in the city of Balingen, Germany. It would soon be wirelessly charged on the highway.
As stated by the media reports, although the project involves a single bus, it can be quickly scaled up and rolled out to cars and across different locations around the world in the coming years. As per the project, Israeli company Electreon and Germany’s EnBW have teamed up to fit an Electric Road System (ERS) along a 1 km stretch of a German highway. The technology works such that a set of magnetic coils are installed in the roads, which transfer electricity through the air to another coil at the bottom of the electric vehicle. While static wireless charging stations have been around for a while, charging roads are said to be a bit more complicated and currently at an earlier stage of development.
Electreon is said to receive up to $3.2 million in funding to set up the charging infrastructure, including two static charging stations at locations where the bus routinely stops during its schedule.
Undergoing testing
Reports state that the introduction of wireless charging roads could help vehicles move to small batteries, further making them lighter, more efficient & less expensive. Apart from Germany, the technology is also said to undergo testing in the USA. Michigan’s governor announced that the state would be testing wireless, in-road charging capabilities on its highways soon.
Though the project only involves a single bus, it doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to see that the technology could be rolled out to cars and other locations around the world in the coming years. In December last year, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that the state will test wireless, in-road charging capabilities on its highways. If cars can charge on the move they can be built with smaller batteries, making them lighter and more efficient, not to mention significantly less expensive. Automotive inductive charging tech works much as it does on our smartphones. Electricity is transferred from magnetic coils in the ground and through the air to another one in the car. Static charging pads for cars have been around for a while, but charging roads are more complicated and at an earlier stage of development. For the Balingen project, Israeli company Electreon and Germany’s EnBW have teamed up to outfit 1 km (0.6 miles) of Electric Road System (ERS) along a stretch of German highway, plus two static charging stations that will be placed at locations where the bus routinely stops during its schedule.
