ROMA – And if in the end the electric columns are no longer needed? If someone came to tell us that to recharge our car it could be enough to make it walk on a certain type of asphalt, with many regards to limited autonomy? Possible?
Yes, possible and revolutionary. The project bears the signature of Magment, a German start-up that has created a concrete consisting of cement and recycled magnetic particles, the so-called “ferrite”. Just bury coils of electrified wire on a stretch of road and create a magnetic field that offers the same opportunities as wireless charging stations. Easier than that. Obviously, the cars must also be equipped with a system that can “receive” the recharge while traveling on the Magment asphalt. “A real step towards the future of dynamic wireless charging”, Mauricio Esguerra, CEO of the start-up proudly explains. “It will undoubtedly represent an economic, sustainable and efficient way to guarantee the electrification of transport”.
We’ll see. The fact is that the idea has already found concrete application in the United States, with a project officially announced by the Governor of Indiana Eric J. Holcomb and by the Department of Transportation itself, in collaboration with Purdue University. “Indiana is known as the crossroads of America,” says Holcomb. “This partnership to develop wireless charging technology on highways testifies that we are at the forefront of providing the infrastructure needed to support the adoption of electric vehicles.” .
The phases of the project will be three. The first two involve testing, analysis and asphalt optimization research by the Joint Transportation Research Program at the West Lafayette campus in Purdue. In the third phase, the Indiana Department of Transportation will build a 400-meter-long test rig in a yet-to-be-decided location, where engineers will test whether the concrete will be able to charge heavy vehicle batteries (200 kilowatts and more). If the tests are successful, the Department of Transportation will use the new technology to electrify a segment of the interstate highway within Indiana.
“As electric vehicles increase, so does the demand for reliable and affordable charging infrastructure,” says Department Commissioner Joe McGuinness. “So we can only be excited to partner with Purdue and Magment to explore technology integration. wireless charging of the motorway infrastructure “.
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