Some drivers argue EVs are the way of the future. Others hate the range anxiety induced by always wondering where you’ll find your next charger. France is testing a new technology that allows EVs to do something traditional cars never could: “fuel up” while you drive.
Imagine this future: You hop in your Renault 5 (possibly the best retro-looking EV on the market). You leave your Paris hotel, café au lait in hand. After you cruise past the Eiffel Tower, you get on the A10 freeway. You crank the volume on some Stromae and cruise the seven hours to Bordeaux. And you don’t need to charge your car once.
Maybe you pull into a café for a rest stop and a croissant. But you just park your car anywhere, not even worrying about charging it. The battery’s at almost 100%.
What’s this wizardry? France is currently testing the world’s first dynamic wirelessly charged motorway. A group of labs and private entities have cooperated to line 1.5 km of the A10 with induction coils. This is very similar to the technology your iPhone uses to charge wirelessly. It’s the first test of such technology on a public roadway with full traffic. And it works. EVs—even electric semi trucks—outfitted with receivers are successfully charging up while they drive along the road.
France and the future of the EV
France may seem an odd place for this first public test. Why not Silicon Valley or China? But France has long been a center of automotive innovation. This is, after all, the country that pioneered inflatable, changeable tires. It’s the country that organized the first (official) automobile race. And it looks like France isn’t slowing down. At this rate, the next French Revolution will be electric.
It’s very exciting to see this sci-fi-level technology implemented in the real world. There’s no telling whether dynamic, wirelessly charged motorways will ever be cost-effective. Wireless charging wastes a ton of electricity that wired charging does not. That’ll drive up the price of electricity for everyone. It’ll also be expensive to build and maintain.
We’ve already essentially solved this problem with tethered trolley cars. It might make more sense to roll out a similar solution where EVs can extend a rooftop arm to charge from overhead cables. Or quick-charging and efficient EVs may make it so either system is worth it. But bien joué to France for demonstrating just how much EVs may someday advance travel.
