If it were not for air pollution would there even be mass commercial production of the electric vehicle or EV? It is difficult to say.
But being there is commercial mass EV production, there must also be charging infrastructure available with which to recharge vehicle batteries.
Two conditions of batteries in EV applications is battery charge depletion rate (i.e., how long batteries under normal driving conditions keep a charge before becoming completely drained) and battery charge rate (i.e., how long it takes batteries to recharge).
So, it is in this sense that I’m thinking EVs would be ideal in situations where driving is localized.
But what if the charge on EV batteries could literally go the distance, meaning lasting hundreds of miles without the operator ever having to wonder about where the next battery recharge station is or if vehicle batteries are going to completely run out of charge before ever getting to a charging station at all?
Enter the electric highway. Say what?!
You heard correct – a highway that can second as a platform for recharging electric vehicle batteries.
The same principle I outlined in “High-tech highways: ‘Hands-free,’ ‘pavement-powered’ vehicle platforms?” could as well be used to recharge batteries in electric vehicles while on the fly using the aforementioned cable/pick-up-coil pairing platform to accommodate the transfer of electricity between highway and vehicle. And it would make no difference whatsoever whether a vehicle was moving or idling. And because this transfer of electricity only takes place between roadway and car, no danger of accidental electric shock would exist.
I could see where at least a lane of highway (if multilane) stretching between two major metropolises hundreds of miles apart could be “energized,” as it were.
If that were to be the case, then imagine no longer having to wonder whether or not destinations would be reached and/or if vehicle batteries will run out of charge. Think also how much more accommodating such a capability or technology would be.
I relish the thought.
And, who knows?! Something on this order might even encourage greater electric vehicle use.
– Alan Kandel
This post was last revised on Dec. 9, 2019 @ 6:27 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.