Automotive Engineering - August 2022 - 7

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
An electric truck is being wirelessly charged in Gotland, Sweden as part of Electreon's " Smartroad Gotland " project. Image includes
technology overview graphics.
parked directly above the coils. A power-management
unit located either
underground or above-ground near
the roadside will transfer the energy
from the electric grid to the roadway's
copper-coil infrastructure.
Electreon's technology solution has 19
patents covering various proprietary
aspects, including the engineered system
architecture and the communication
mechanism between an EV fitted with a
power receiver and the embedded roadway
coils. " The intellectual property of
our vehicle receivers will be released to
OEMs for free, " Ezer promised.
Both the battery size and the number
of receivers connected to an EV influence
the charging time. " The driving
speed has a negligible effect on the
charging performance, " Ezer explained.
He said to date, Electreon has tested its
receivers up to a speed of 49.7 mph (80
kph). As an example, if a commercial
truck with five receivers is traveling at
37 mph (60 kph), 37 miles (60 km) of
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
electrified road is needed to fully
charge the battery. If the vehicle is traveling
at 12.4 mph (20 kph), 12.4 miles
(20 km) of electrified road are needed
to fully charge the battery.
Larger vehicles can support multiple
Electreon receivers. For instance, Class
8 trucks can be fitted with up to seven
undercarriage receivers. Buses could
have three receivers, while passenger
vans might have two receivers. " The
number of receivers on an electric vehicle
depends on the use case, the vehicle
size, and the vehicle type, " Ezer
said. Each Electreon receiver for heavyduty
EVs is capable of supplying up to
25 kW to the battery. Based on the
power transfer rate requirements of
light-duty passenger EVs, Electreon
offers 7 kW and 11 kW receiver options.
Four-season testing
The Detroit demonstration project will
provide a four-season venue to test
hardware and performance objectives.
Electreon's Tongur said that based on
findings from ongoing projects in
Europe, weather won't be an issue.
" Since the (wireless) infrastructure lies
beneath the roadway, the energy transfer
is not affected by snow and ice. The
road can be maintained - plowed, salted,
etc. - as usual without affecting the
coils beneath the asphalt, " Tongur said.
Wireless charging of EVs isn't new to
America, as the largest fleet of all-electric
transit buses in the U.S. use a patented
wireless charging system from Salt
Lake City, Utah-based WAVE (Wireless
Advanced Vehicle Electrification). Fortyeight
of Southern California's Antelope
Valley Transit Authority's 54 BYD-built
buses are fitted with WAVE undercarriage
receivers. Additionally, wireless
charging of EVs via a non-public electrified
roadway is an ongoing R&D and
testing endeavor of Utah State
University's Electric Vehicle & Roadway
(EVR) facility and test track.
Kami Buchholz
August 2022 7
ELECTREON

Automotive Engineering - August 2022

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