Researchers Are Working On Creating Concrete That Can Charge Electric Vehicles While They Run On It
This project has been funded by the National Science Foundation in collaboration with Purdue University and German company Magment. They plan on conducting the research in three phases.
The concept where roads can charge electric cars as they move isn¡¯t a novel one and some working prototypes for this tech do exist, albeit currently they're impractical and downright expensive.
Reuters
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However, Indiana¡¯s Department of Transport (INDOT) has now revealed that it is working on a new type of cement that would have magnetized particles in them that could enable EV-charging roads minus the expensive infrastructure costs of building new ones.
Reported first by Autoblog, this project has been funded by the National Science Foundation in collaboration with Purdue University and German company Magment. They plan on conducting the research in three phases.
The first phase will be the testing phase to see if the magnetised cement (dubbed magment) would first work in lab conditions. Later this would be tested across a quarter-mile section of the road.
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According to Magment, the novel material is capable of delivering record-breaking wireless transmission efficiency at up to 95 per cent. Moreover, this enables electrified roads to be built at standard road building installation costs and is also vandalism proof.
The way the roads are made is with the inclusion of ferrite particles and can be manufactured locally, reducing costs further.
Reuters
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In the final phase, INDOT plans to test the capacity of the streets to charge heavy electric trucks operating at high power of at least 200 kilowatts. Once this test is successful, this tech will be used by INDOT to electrify segments of public interstate in the state of Indiana.
It goes without saying that the final phase is also going to be its most arduous for Magment, but if it does, we could be looking towards a brighter future for electric vehicles and this planet as a whole.
