Wireless In-Road EV Charging Could be the Future, According to Researchers
Most electric vehicles are charged at specific plug-in stations, but the future may lie in Dynamic Wireless Charging (DWC), as researchers term it.
Ramesh Majhi, who is working on his PhD in engineering at the University of Auckland, along with Dr. Prakash Ranjitkar, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering, and Dr. Selena Sheng, a research fellow in the Business School, made a simulation to test this cutting-edge technology.
"DWC pads are embedded in the road and use electromagnetic induction to charge electric vehicles while they're moving," Sheng said.
This technology could hasten the shift to sustainable transportation by making recharging convenient. There would be no need to drive to an EV charging station or even to a petrol station.
Electric vehicles only need charging approximately once a day, but it takes 9 minutes on average at plug-in stations, which adds up for commuters, especially when their capacity is tested by increased EV usage.
The study looked at the effects of traffic and DWC pad strength and size to see if they were worth employing instead of traditional plug-in stations.
It discovered that if the charging pads are strong enough, they only need 12% of a highway to keep a vehicle completely charged.
This means that they could quickly become a money and time saver because they don't suffer from limited capacity as long as traffic flows.
"Urbanisation and the need to promote green mobility have opened the road for electric vehicle (EV) adoption that cuts greenhouse gas emissions," the study's authors said.
"Dynamic wireless charging offers a viable solution to mitigate issues related to the limited driving range, higher battery capacity (resulting in higher cost), and longer charging time of EVs ... leading to a green city equipped with a smart transportation network."
Source: 1News
