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Dive Summary:
- The Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University will develop the world’s first wireless-charging concrete highway section to recharge vehicles while they drive, according to March 27 announcements from the university and the transport agency.
- Phases 1 and 2 of the project included pavement testing, analysis and optimization research funded by the Joint Transportation Research Program at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.
- In phase 3, the State DOT will build a quarter mile test bed where engineers will test the ability of concrete to charge heavy trucks from 200 kilowatts and above. DC fast chargers that plug-in vehicles in parking lots and rest areas typically operate within a range of 50 to 350 kilowatts, according to the US DOT. Construction of this test bed is expected to begin in early April.
Dive Insight:
The Indiana DOT tapped Clinton, Indiana-based White Construction to build the pilot test site on US 231/US 52 between Cumberland Avenue and Lindberg Road in West Lafayette, according to the agency.
The technology Purdue is developing will allow freeway pavement to recharge electric vehicles similar to how some newer smartphones can be charged through magnetic fields, according to the university. Purdue hopes to eventually electrify a portion of an Indiana interstate within the next four to five years.
The project is part of the Promoting Sustainability through Energy Infrastructure for Road Electrification Initiative, a Engineering Research Center. The designation is for programs that foster innovation with the potential for profound social impact, according to the National Science Foundation.
The ASPIRE initiative, broadly speaking, is a collaboration between universities, government laboratories, businesses and other stakeholders to develop charging technologies to help electrify vehicles of all sizes.
“As electric vehicles become more widely used, the demand for reliable, convenient charging infrastructure continues to grow, and the need for innovation is clear,” Joe McGuinness, the state’s transportation agency commissioner, said in the release.
Electric vehicles are on the minds of the manufacturing industry right now — specifically, the factories that make them.
Although automakers have said demand for electric cars has declined in 2024, factory construction that will manufacture them or their components for years to come continued unabated. Electric machinery manufacturing, which includes EV battery plants, will reach $35.2 billion in 2023, according to the Dodge Construction Network, which translates to about 47% of total manufacturing output.
Construction on the Indiana DOT and Purdue charging road pilot project is scheduled for completion in 2025.