A 1-mile stretch of roadway in the heart of Detroit could become the proving ground for a technology that promises to zap away electric vehicle owners’ fears of running out of juice.
The experiment will test how to turn a road into a big wireless charging platform for EVs driving on it. The inductive charging concept is similar to how many Americans now charge cellphones, electric toothbrushes and power tools — without plugging them in.
Dallas-based engineering giant Jacobs is one of three firms selected by the Michigan Department of Transportation to run the $1.9 million test. It’s teaming with inductive charging developer Electreon and Detroit-based clean energy accelerator NextEnergy. Jacobs will manage the project and provide design services.
Electreon’s technology works by placing charging coils 3 inches under the roadway and a receiver on the bottom of a car. The receiver holds an opposite charge to the coils, enabling it to draw a current from the roadway that charges the EV.
Stefan Tongur, vice president of U.S. business development for Electreon, said the company has developed and operated inductive roadways in Europe and Israel, both with great success. A 1-mile pilot project in Sweden in 2018 was the first public electric road in the world. The Swedish government is now working with Electreon to build a 20-mile version.
Electreon also made commercial deals for more than 200 electric buses with Israel’s largest bus operating company after a successful pilot in Tel Aviv, Tongur said.
“We’re not testing whether or not the technology works,” said Ron Williams, Jacobs’ senior vice president of building and infrastructure for the Americas. “It’s just about how we apply it here in the U.S.”
The project will build and operate three different types of inductive charging, known as dynamic, semi-dynamic and static.
Dynamic charging allows cars, buses or trucks to charge as they drive over the coils in the road. Those would be placed in highways for long-distance driving.
Semi-dynamic charging would be installed in cities and neighborhoods for vehicles that stop often. Coils would be placed in a specific location, like a bus stop, so vehicles could charge as they stopped over the coils for short periods. This works best for public transportation or delivery services with frequent stops.
Static charging is an inductive version of the electric charging that EV owners use today. Coils would be put in parking lots or driveways where vehicles could be parked for longer periods, typically overnight for bus fleets or to charge your car while you sleep.
“It would be about 20% faster on an overnight basis,” said NextEnergy president and CEO Jim Saber. “Another advantage is that it would be much easier to do what we refer to as ‘smart charging,’ and manage the energy that would go through a facility and into the vehicles in the most efficient manner.”
Being able to control how much electricity goes to each charger ensures that inductive charging doesn’t increase stress on the electric grid, Saber said.
Jacobs is used to tackling visionary projects. With over 55,000 employees and annual revenue of $14 billion, it’s a company that works on projects around the world from a bulk storage plant in South Africa for nuclear power to the University of Wollongong Electron Microscopy Centre in Australia. Jacobs will even be going to space as part of the Artemis project for NASA.
The goal for the Detroit pilot project is to have the first section operational by fall 2023, with a second section ready the following year.
Seeing inductive roadways on Dallas streets may still be years away, but the practical applications of inductive charging could be game-changing.
“Once we get into the fall of 2023 and we’re able to collect data, it will be shortly thereafter where we can really start to have more serious conversations with the [departments of transportation] across the country about this application,” Williams said.
Transportation accounts for one-fourth of all carbon dioxide emissions, according to Jacobs. In cities, inductive charging-equipped fleets of buses, police cars or delivery trucks could drastically reduce vehicle emissions, resulting in cleaner air.
It also could be a way for cities to turn charging into revenue, especially with the Biden administration pumping billions of dollars into building a coast-to-coast EV charging network.
“Wireless charging is a great opportunity for cities to monetize the curbside,” Saber said. “If you think of the parking meter today in an urban environment, you’re paying so many dollars an hour to park. … It’ll be an opportunity for cities to offer better infrastructure, better use cases and convenience for people that live, work and visit their communities.”
For Jacobs, inductive charging roadways are just one way the company is working toward an electric future.
Jacobs is involved in decarbonization and green fleeting projects and in scaling EV uses and charging stations in the public and private sector, Williams said. It acquired two analytics companies, StreetLight Data and Microgrid Labs, to help it provide clients with data on where to put charging stations, how to optimize an electric fleet and how to build microgrids that support increased electrification.
“We have all the tools that can help analyze and discern what infrastructure is needed, what’s the best place so the money that is spent is done so wisely and to the most benefit of the public and community at large,” Williams said.
Jacobs also helped design four of the largest EV manufacturing facilities in the U.S., including Tesla’s new gigafactory in Austin, and multiple EV battery plants.
“The insight that we have gained through all those different avenues really differentiates” the company, Williams said.
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