New French road lets electric cars charge while driving and never needing to stop.
Imagine driving along and your electric vehicle’s battery fills up without stopping. That’s now a reality in France, where a 1.5-kilometre stretch of the A10 motorway just outside Paris has been outfitted with coils beneath the asphalt that transfer electricity to vehicles equipped with receivers. The embedded copper coils generate a magnetic field that sends power to the vehicle’s underside as it drives, much like wireless smartphone charging—but scaled up massively. The system has been verified to deliver over 200 kW continuously, with peaks around 300 kW.
Vehicles including buses, cars and trucks are already using the lane, meaning the technology isn’t just a lab experiment any longer. With this charging-while-moving setup, the big benefit is shorter travel time and reduced need for giant heavy batteries, especially in long-haul freight. Since the vehicles don’t have to stop for hours at charging stations, the infrastructure addresses one of the main hurdles in EV adoption. The road’s induction charging system works in all weather including rain and snow because there are no exposed contacts.
While this pilot is still limited to a short stretch and the vehicles must be fitted with special receivers, it signals a major shift in how roads can power vehicles in motion. If scaled up, highways could become part of the charging network rather than just a path to a charger. The project was developed in collaboration with industry and academia in France and led by the company Electreon.
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