A Road Scholar with a Bigger Charge Account

Infrastructure dollars notwithstanding, the viability of all-electric vehicles (EV) is tenuous… at least until we can figure out how to increase range and provide vastly more ways to recharge cars that are away from home base. As my September 1st Electric Cars… Not Quite Yet blog confirms, although “service stations” would seem like the most likely venues to charge EVs, that concept faces almost insurmountable challenges, at least in the near term. The time ime to “fill up” is the issue.

Most certainly, the 240-volt level 2 chargers require that the vehicle be parked for hours. These chargers generally add 20-30 miles of range per hour, with some systems able to provide an 80% charge in under an hour. Home or office systems can meet this need, and for folks who spend serious time at certain venues – grocery and other shopping, restaurant meals, etc. – there is a reasonable way to buy enough miles to get home. But most certainly, level 2 charging cannot work where charging must be accomplished in minutes.

Unlike level 1 (110-volt) and level 2 chargers, level 3 uses direct current at significantly higher voltage. Within level 3 (which includes Tesla Supercharging facilities) are various voltage chargers ranging all the way up to 900 volts, which can charge a properly configured car in just a few minutes. Those super-fast 900-volt systems require cooling all the way into the charging “hose.” And even without calculating the concrete and connection to the power grid, those stations currently quite expensive: $100-$150 thousand dollars each depending on how many units are ordered. Level 3 chargers are the focus of our national rollout of ample charging stations.

EV owners tend to let their cars run down almost to zero before recharging on longer trips. Aside from facilities that offer food and some distractions, time-consuming charging is not viable for people making longer journeys, well beyond the average range of today’s EVs. Batteries are being improved, so that 200-mile average range will continue to increase. Experts predict that average range will creep upwards over the years until the average of new vehicles reaches around 500-600 miles. There are cars that have that range now (like the ultra-premium Lucid), but the price of such EVs is prohibitive to most. Still, we need to find another way. China is working on a complete batter swap-out system, but Americans are likely to resist putting unknown car parts into their vehicles.

So, what if we were to eliminate having to stop to recharge, instead allowing a constant recharging while driving? Not solar panels on your car’s roof, something more efficient that even works at night? You may already have some experience with the technique: placing your smartphone on a charging pad, where an electromagnetic field implements charging. Engineers theorized that such a system could be embedded in roadways and radiate an electromagnet charge upwards to passing EVs. Well, it’s not a theory anymore.

Utah State University (in Logan) has an electromagnetic test road where such a system – at its ASPIRE research center – is use to charge campus busses passing above. Bigger tests are taking place all across the United States, including, most appropriately, in the Detroit area. “On two short stretches of road near downtown Detroit, Michigan transportation officials hope to make history.

“Over the next two years, they plan to embed technology in the pavement that can charge electric vehicles while they’re being driven. The wireless system will be the first U.S. test of so-called inductive charging on public roadways, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation… ‘We’re the auto capital. We continue to push technology advancements,’ said Michele Mueller, a senior project manager at the agency.

“In some other states, including Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Utah, officials also plan to test inductive charging on public roads in the next several years… ‘This is a great solution to a problem we have today of how to get to zero emissions,’ said Tallis Blalack, managing director of … ASPIRE… ‘If we do this correctly, we can decrease the costs of transportation for everyone.’… Blalack said the biggest challenge in getting to zero emissions nationally is figuring out how to move the 70% of freight that is now transported by truck.

“Without an inductive charging system, it would cost an estimated $150,000 to put EV batteries into each long-haul electric semi, he said. Those batteries would weigh 20,000 pounds, a quarter of a truck’s payload. Charging truck batteries that large would require megawatt chargers to fast charge them, he added.

“Inductive charging would eliminate the need for such heavy long-range batteries, Blalack said. Smaller truck batteries would require fewer natural resources to manufacture and would cost only about $15,000… ‘We can reduce the cost of transportation for everybody if we have the infrastructure in place,’ he said… Blalack said his center estimates that it would require about $30 billion a year to develop induction road-charging networks in some regions across the country by 2035, primarily on interstate highways.” Jenny Bergal, writing for Pew Research’s Stateline (November 16th). Soon… but not soon enough.

Are there any health risks associated with such systems? This is not entirely an unfamiliar technology. Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are also generated in the vicinity of power lines, mobile phones, mobile phone towers, broadcast towers and similar transmitters. Whether or not EMF can harm human health is a controversial issue, but there is some evidence that suggests a linkage between EMF and some forms of cancer (like leukemia). Still, there do not appear to be any conclusive findings supporting this as a consistent risk. With climate change presenting an existential risk to all life on earth, moving forward with alternative power sources, EMF tech appears to be a viable next step.

I’m Peter Dekom, and our commitment to eliminate fossil fuel as quickly as possible will push these experiments to commercial application forward at an increasing rate.