Unarguably, how to make fossil-free road transportation a reality has been the concern of the leaders all over the world. The quest for solution has led to plethora of multi-national meetings by world leaders who are hellbent on taking every necessary step to avert the inevitable future doom if nothing is done now to arrest the situation by reducing the rate at which we consume fossils.

_{[A fully battery-electric Optare Versa midibus. Source: Wikimedia commons. Author: Quackdave. CC BY-SA 4.0 licensed]}

As a result, a lot of nations have put mechanisms (including policy measures) in place to ensure that their dependence on fossil-fuel powered machines are brought down to barest minimum within the nearest possible future. For instance, Sweden vigorously pursuing its policy to achieve a 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 [1]. The scramble to mitigate the rate of emissions of greenhouse gases has led to production of electric vehicles.

However, there are observable hurdles which are militating against widespread use or adoption of electric vehicles. Not only that they come with expensive bulky batteries, you have to stop intermittently to have them recharged at special recharging stations, throwing up the question: what if the stored charge gets exhausted at a spot where there is no recharging station? So even though production of electric vehicles provided solution to problems associated with using fossil-fuel dependent vehicles, it also created another problems in terms of having to stop intermittently to recharge them and the expensive nature of the batteries.

To find lasting solution to this, start-ups in many countries are being supported by their governments to explore a number of alternatives. Among the alternatives being explored, electrified roads using either inductive or conductive technologies to power or recharge batteries of electric vehicles as they are driven along the streets, have proven to be the best choice.

Instead of having to regularly plug in electric vehicles, future roadways could power cars while they're in motion, so you never have to stop for a recharge again. _Source

Countries that have made tremendous progress in this new technology include (but not limited to) Sweden, France, South Korea, Italy, etc.

_{[A wirelessly powered modern vehicle. Source: Wikimedia commons. Author: Grandmaket. CC BY-SA 4.0 licensed]}

Technologies of electrified road (how is it possible that a road charges vehicles as they are driven along?)

How is it possible that an asphalted road is able to charge or power electric vehicles on motion? Isn't this crazily impossible to believe guys. Well, like I have always said, "The word 'impossibility' is antithetical to field of Science." That's worthy of note.

That being said; depending on countries or companies, there are two major technologies being adopted to achieve wireless charging electric roads. Whereas technology A may appeal to one company, another company may prefer technology B. In any case, the two technologies that can be used are:

• Conductive technology, or
• Inductive technology.

Conductive technology

Conductive technology makes use of a conductor to ensure contact between two electronic devices to achieve energy transfer. In other words, it requires a physical connection between the electronic device's battery and the power supply [2]. The need for a metal-to-metal connection between the charger and the device requiring charging is one of the main drawbacks of this technology [2].

Conductive charging technology in real life use

Conductive technology is the choice charging method being adopted by eRoadArlanda who is the company overseeing electric road project (whereby electricity is supplied via conductors embedded in the road [1] in Sweden.

Here...the vehicle is connected to an electrified rail and, as long as the vehicle is above the rail, a movable arm transfers power from the rail to the vehicle’s battery. Source

_{[Skeletal drawing of conductive technology system. Source: Wikipedia commons. Author: Timpo. CC BY-SA 3.0 licensed]}

"There is no electricity on the surface. There are two tracks, just like an outlet in the wall. Five or 6 centimeters [2 or 2.4 inches] down is where the electricity is,” eRoadArlanda chief executive Hans Säll told The Guardian. “But if you flood the road with salt water then we have found that the electricity level at the surface is just one volt. You could walk on it barefoot.” _Source

Inductive technology

Unlike conductive charging technology, inductive charging technology makes use of electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects via electromagnetic induction. This is the type of technology in use in most charging stations. Here, energy is passed via what's known as an inductive coupling to an electrical device that uses it to charge batteries or run the device [3]. This may introduce a potential for energy loss as the distance created between the device and the charging board means energy transfer is less efficient [2].

Inductive technology in real life use

A good example of a real life scenario where inductive charging technology is being used is the one being employed by Electroad in Israel. Electroad is the company overseeing electric road construction in Isreal.

Here...the buses are charged and propelled by power from the interaction of two electromagnetic fields. Inverters installed along the side of the road provide power to plates of copper embedded in the road. Similar copper plates are installed on the bus’s underside. As the vehicle passes over the charged roadway, the two fields interact and generate power. _Source

_{[Skeletal drawing of inductive charging system. Source: Wikimedia commons. Author: Egmason. CC BY-SA 3.0 licensed]}

Conclusion

The advantages of electrifying roads are very obvious. Not only that existing infrastructure can have its energy consumption and carbon emissions reduced with minimal modification [4], vehicles do not need to stop regularly in order to recharge its batteries. Theoretically, vehicles can run indefinitely.

Do you have any case against this emerging technology? What do you think? Do use the comment button below. Thanks for reading.

References for further reading

• _{[1] Sweden just announced world's first electric road that charges cars as they drive}
• _{[2] Conductive wireless charging}
• _{[3] Inductive wireless charging}
• _{[4] Sweden builds first electrified road for charging vehicles as they drive}
• _{Israel tests wireless charging roads for electric vehicles}
• _{Futuristic roads may make recharging cars a thing of the past}
• _{Road-powered electric vehicles}
• _{World's first road-powered electric vehicle network switches on I South Korea}
• _{The case for building electric roads}

Yours truly,
@eurogee

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