Cutting the cord on electric cars
In the future, magnetic fields on roads could power up electric car batteries – if researchers can develop the technology.
An Auckland University research team has been granted $12 million to develop wireless technology to charge electric vehicles while they are being driven or while parked on the road.
The financial boost came from Endeavour Fund, a government-endorsed grant which invests in research that has high potential to benefit New Zealand economically, environmentally or socially.
Auckland University professor, and the project’s leader, Grant Covic said the technology involved charging a coil in the road to create a magnetic field. An electrical field was then created to charge electric car batteries.
While the team had demonstrated the technology was functional, installing it into roads posed challenges.
A ruthless testing phase would ensure the components could withstand the pressures of being encased in tarseal, he said. ‘‘We will test them to destruction, at different levels and sizes,’’ Covic said.
‘‘We are figuring out where do they break down thermally and mechanically, and then improve on the designs.’’
But if successful, the project would eliminate the need to plug in, he said.
Momentum was gathering in Europe and Britain towards moving to entirely electric vehicles by 2040, he said. People were going to expect to charge wherever they parked.