Electric Roads

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By Peter Bragdon

 Electric Roads
The future is electromagnetic. Inductive charging uses electromagnetic fields to charge batteries. Electromagnetic waves carry energy and that energy can be used to do work. Some types of electromagnetic waves, like gamma rays, are high frequency, small amplitude and carry lots of energy. These are often dangerous for human health. Other types of electromagnetic waves are low frequency, large amplitude with lower energy like radio waves; these are not hazardous to humans. The less the frequency, usually the less energy and danger. Wireless chargers for phones create an electromagnetic field at a frequency of 100-400 kHz. When the phone is placed on the charging pad, an electromagnetic field in the pad transfers energy to a coil inside the phone.


The challenge for designing wireless chargers is that even though electromagnetic waves can travel through air or a vacuum, the types of electromagnetic waves used have to be safe for humans and so rely on low energy. Trying to direct a concentrated dose of large wavelength, low energy waves to effectively charge a battery is difficult to design. So far, the phone chargers require placing the phone directly in contact with the charging pad so that it is as close as possible to the source of the electromagnetic waves. This is much harder to accomplish with a car battery that sits inside the engine compartment of an electric car well above the road.
Scientists are coming up with new strategies that will allow electric car drivers to park their vehicles in spaces that have wireless coils embedded in the ground. For example, in 2016, SAE International released a wireless electric car charger that uses electromagnetic waves at a frequency of 85 kHz to transfer energy to the car battery and recharge a parked electric car. The most exciting use of this technology is the possibility of building electric roads. A chipmaker, Qualcomm announced last year that it has successfully built a 100 meter electric track near Paris, France to test technology for wirelessly charging cars. So far it has been able to use electromagnetic waves to charge vehicles at 20 kilowatts as they drive at highway speeds. The roadway can also charge two cars traveling in opposite directions on the same roadway.
Although it might be hard to imagine all roads becoming electric because of the constant flow of energy required and the cost of converting the roads, Tel Aviv in Israel is putting in practice what I think is the best next step, using the electromagnetic charging system for public transportation. An Israeli company called ElectRoad is installing an experimental electric roadway on an 80 foot track. If it works well, the firm will install it into a section of a bus route and maybe eventually a shuttle route between the city of Eilat and the Ramon International Airport. The expense of using this new technology makes it most efficient to install for systems that want to use alternative energy vehicles and are repeatedly traveling over the same roadway. Buses that are continually traveling the same routes are a perfect example of public transit where electric roads could be best used.


The Case for Building Electric Roads
Israel Tests Wireless Charging Roads for Electric Vehicles
Charging without Wires
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Wireless Charging is Actually Charging Ahead
Overview of Qi wireless charging system
Figure 2: Overview of Qi wireless charging system.
Israel Tests Wireless Charging Roads for Electric Vehicles

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