WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Indiana Department of Transportation is partnering with Purdue University to create what's being called the "world's first contactless wireless-charging concrete pavement segment."
The project is part of the Advancing Sustainability through Power Infrastructure for Road Electrification (ASPIRE) Initiative, an Engineering Research Center funded by NSF, the National Science Foundation, and involves the collaboration of universities, government laboratories, businesses, and other stakeholders.
The project will use magnetizable concrete developed by German startup Magment, which enables the wireless charging of electric vehicles as they drive.
“As electric vehicles become more widely used, demand for reliable, convenient charging infrastructure continues to grow, and the need to innovate is clear,” INDOT Commissioner Joe McGuinness said in a statement.
Nadia Gkritza, Professor of Civil Engineering and Agricultural and Biological Engineering and ASPIRE Campus Director at Purdue University said all parties involved "envision opportunities to reduce emissions and near-road exposures to pollutants, coupled with other transportation innovations in shared mobility and automation that will shape data-driven policies encouraging advances.”
The INDOT-Purdue project will involve a quarter-mile long test bed at a location that has yet to be determined. The project will include three phases and is expected to begin later this summer.
The plan is to later use the technology to electrify a segment of interstate highway.
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