A Wireless Electric Vehicle Powered by ‘Recharging Roads’

“It is perhaps one of the most significant technical gains in the 21^st century! The potential of the technology is limitless. Of all the world’s electric vehicle systems this is the most economical system!”

That is how the developers of a ground-breaking technology (we mean literally ground-breaking!), explained their new creation – recharging roads where a vehicle can extract power from buried electric strips magnetically.

The Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV)…

..is what this new eco-friendly vehicle is called. Connected to it were three buses in the first prototype that was tested at an amusement park in southern Seoul, S. Korea. The technology was developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

How does it work?

In the prototype tested there were recharging strips that were installed underground in four segments. In total there were about 400 meters of recharging strips.

The OLEV can pick up electricity from power cables buried underground through a non-contact magnetic charging method.

This extracted power can then be used to either power the vehicle or recharge the battery.

Advantages linked to the new technology?

1. The battery used here is only a fifth of the size of that used in conventional electric vehicles
2. The need for major recharging stations is eliminated since the power extracted from the strips can be distributed to the battery as well
3. The need for overhead wires that usually power conventional trams and trolley buses is also done away with
4. The vehicle is capable of converting more than 70% of the charge obtained from the strips into energy that powers the vehicle

The new technology referred to as safe, clean and economical by the developers certainly promises to do one thing – expand the capacity and potential of electric vehicles as an alternative to the internal combustion engine which is responsible for a lot of the strife related to the environment currently.

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News and images via: CCTV and Green Diary