The Volvo answer, life-sized slot cars!

[botsapper]

The future of EV transportation is electrifying the road. Volvo engineer shares, "With this method, electric vehicles could be continuously supplied with power without carrying large batteries," explains Volvo's expert on electric vehicles Mats Alaküla. "The power line will be built in sections and one section is only live as the truck passes."
Vehicle charging occurs at 37 mph or less. Hmm, while stuck in LA commute I'd be fully charged for the day!
Is Volvo's Electric Road The Way Of The Future? - Translogic

[gone-ot]

Hm-m-m-m, I can visualize it now: Some dumb kid sticking his tongue onto one of the rails just to see what happens...or double-dare his buddy.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

Hm-m-m-m, I can visualize it now: Some dumb kid sticking his tongue onto one of the rails just to see what happens...or double-dare his buddy.

Bet'cha won't!

I read, I think that it was on here, something about solar roads. I just cannot imagine how to make that work, though.

[jakobnev]

Don't they know that slot cars always fly off the track in the corners?

[RedDevil]

There were plans to electrify a lane on the highway between Tilburg and Eindhoven.
The electricity would be transferred by means of induction loops. The system would detect electric cars with suitable induction equipment and power up the loops in the road beneath it.

My thoughts:
- Expand to hybrid! When hybrids run on max EV assist they would use less or no fuel. There are many more hybrids than full EV's on the road today so the system would get used more.
- Traffic lights and crossings. Charge while u wait, accelerate in EV mode supported by loops that service traffic in more than one direction. Put the loops where the cars are.
- Use the loops for propulsion. The loops create magnetic fields, why not match them with an attracting field aimed just behind it on the vehilcle so that it gets pulled forward? It does not have to be an EV for that either. You could hang a set of induction loops under a semi and push that along.

Ah well, in this time of budget cuts the chances for projects like these are very slim.

[gone-ot]

ICE car with "loop" could shut down alternator and "top-off & run" on the inductively (AC) coupled energy, *if* provision is also made to convert that AC energy into DC energy.

[Xist]

Would anyone slow to 37 MPH for ∞ MPG?

[NachtRitter]

IEEE story about induction loops... apparently the technology would allow greater than 185mph speeds (for high speed trains): The All-Electric Car You Never Plug In - IEEE Spectrum. I agree with RedDevil... the induction coils don't need to be laid down everywhere, just at key spots along the route. Since the power can be significantly higher than a home charger (100kW vs ~8kW for a level 2 240V charger), it'd be possible to get a good boost by driving along a 10 mile "EV Charging Lane". Pricey to build, though I suppose it could be supported by a toll system (similar to the SF Bay area's FasTrak system).

[markweatherill]

I wonder if this would encourage drivers to rediscover 'lane discipline'...

[P-hack]

this seems to have been divided into sections so that only the sections that have a car above them are powered, that seems a reasonable precaution after reading about drunk people climbing barb wire fences to piss on third rails (and families suing). Direct transfer will be more efficient.

However, speaking of electric trains, the power demands for such a system are going to be huge (though less than if everyone has to charge huge batteries at home then lug them everywhere), but huge nonetheless, i.e. people going downhill may have to feed the grid to help the people going uphill.