Detroit is now home to the country’s first chunk of road that can wirelessly charge an electric vehicle (EV), whether it’s parked or moving.
Why it matters: Wireless charging on an electrified roadway could remove one of the biggest hassles of owning an EV: the need to stop and plug in regularly.
I actually make a yearly pilgrimage of 500 miles and apart from gas stops I go nonstop, no breaks. I find that making numerous stops wears me out and I start to fall asleep in the last couple hours. Could easily be because I’m adding hours to my drive if that’s the case though.
Edit: Keep in mind though, the 250 is typically ideal. You can easily have a range down to 100 miles or less with a few years of general use. A wireless charging solution would ease such wear and tear.
There is no way that is remotely safe to drive for 7-8ish hours uninterrupted but that falls into the “can” vs “should” argument.
I think the big question is if it’s more environmentally friendly to use larger batteries or accept a huge amount of wasted energy and I don’t have data to make a claim in either direction.
Truck drivers do it all the time, I’m just doing it to visit family. 😜
The wasted energy isn’t inherently a problem. If it is 100% renewable, for instance, it would be more environmentally friendly to have no battery with 99% wasted energy.
So moving forward as we move more and more to a green grid, the concern of wasted energy becomes less and less.
Sure but in the US, commercial truckers are mandated to take at least a 30 minute break after 8 hours of driving. And the EU tells personal drivers to take a break of 45 mins after 4ish hours of driving.
Realistically, if you get a weekend to burn and are feeling bored, rent a Model 3 and go on a trip. I think you’d be surprised how much of a non-issue it would be.
You’re kinda missing the forest for the trees…
Elaborate?
Most people’s driving isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a marathon sport. It’s not like this is F1.
Set your expectations realistically. This road just isn’t going to take off as a practical solution. EV makers have already seemed to decide 300 miles is about the target for a vehicle range, and there’s no incentive to beef up batteries.
Spending billions of dollars to build out roads so people can go from waiting 15 mins to charge down to 10 minutes is an insane waste of money. Most large charging operators are now partnering with locations that are designed to keep you sitting around for a bit longer than a rural interstate rest area, so there’s not much of a reason for them to throw money at this.
I’m sorry this isn’t the answer the very hopeful folks want to hear but find any manufacturer who’s taking in-motion wireless charging seriously right now 🤷♂️
Ehh, i dont really see a problem driving that long as long as you start it when you first get up for the day. I do 8 hour drives multiple times a year to go see family and only stop after 6 hours to gas up, then continue on. With how quick gasing up is with paying at the pump these days, 3 minutes of stop doesn’t sound to far fetched.
As I said to the other commenter, if you get a weekend of free time that you want to burn down, I highly encourage you to try doing a trip in a Model 3 (if you’re in the US, I absolutely cannot recommend CCS infrastructure right now). I think you’d be surprised how much of a non-issue it can be if you build any form of food break in the trip, whether it’s driving -> breakfast -> driving or whatnot.
I live in canada, and the charging infrastructure is very bad here. In fact, my usual drive probably isn’t even possible in the winter due to a lack of charging points with how little range the cars have in winter here.
You win :)
Canada has a ways to go with charging before I can proselytize about EVs.