Purdue University and the Indiana Department of Transportation are creating a roadway capable of wirelessly charging electric vehicles, including Class 8 trucks, traveling at highway speeds. Researchers say that could lead to smaller batteries and lower barriers to electric fleets.
A quarter-mile roadway is being outfitted with the technology on U.S. Highway 231 in West Lafayette. If successful, the research has the potential to lower the cost of an electric truck, experts told FreightWaves. The patent-pending project is touted as the world’s first highway test bed for wireless charging and has the potential to transform electric vehicle charging.
Electric vehicle range and costs are hurdles to widespread adoption of the technology, said researcher Steven Pekarek, Purdue’s Edmund O. Schweitzer III professor of electrical and computer engineering, who is involved in the project. This research could address both hurdles by maintaining a truck’s charge while it drives, leading to smaller batteries and a lower cost. The researcher compared the technology to wirelessly charging a cellphone.
“This is the only possible solution that I’ve ever heard that could come close to working for the people I represent,” said Gary Langston, Indiana Motor Truck Association president and CEO. “It’s not that we don’t want to do it. If someone came up with a viable solution that we could afford, we’re not pushing back on that.”
The current technology is too costly to implement, Langston said. A diesel Class 8 truck costs roughly $180,000, while a comparable battery-electric truck costs over $400,000.
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Electric trucks are slowly joining America’s roadways as companies work to combat emissions. The Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group based in New York, found close to 13,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks were deployed over the past four years, with more than 10,000 in 2023 alone.
Companies such as FedEx and Amazon have rolled out electric trucks, with several manufacturers developing heavy-duty electric vehicles.
The surge comes as the Biden administration hopes to cut carbon emissions with an aggressive plan — dubbed the National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy — that would push fleet owners toward zero-emission trucks. Medium- and heavy-duty trucks account for nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. transportation sector, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The strategy aims to lead to 100% zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty truck sales by 2040, bolstered by the development of hubs to provide access to charging and hydrogen stations. The plan has been criticized by some in the industry.
Langston said manufacturers and researchers will need to overcome barriers associated with current electric trucks, including making electric fleets financially attractive, minimizing charge time and lessening the weight of batteries, which can affect the load a truck can haul. Plus, the range needs to increase so drivers can travel farther on a single charge, he said.
“This is something that may make it attractive to some larger types of vehicles,” said Indiana DOT spokesman Blake Dollier. “It gives this new innovative side that may open that window of opportunity.”
Why Indiana?
More than $650 billion in cargo passes through Indiana each year, according to a state logistics report. Centrally located, the state plays an important role in logistics and is within a day’s drive for 80% of the country’s population.
There’s a reason why the state’s motto is the Crossroads of America, Dollier said, adding that Indiana prides itself on its infrastructure. The $11 million project aligns with the state’s goals, he said. The location of the testbed serves Indiana, Illinois and Ohio drivers.
“We want to be the leader in this innovation,” he said.
The roadway will also charge smaller electric vehicles, but by targeting the biggest vehicles on the road, it ensures the project will work for all drivers.
“You have to address the heavy power first … to see if it’s financially feasible and technically feasible. … The vision is you would place our system within roadways that are trafficked by heavy-duty vehicles and it would provide the power to those while they’re driving down the road, and then you would be able to greatly reduce the battery,” Pekarek said, adding that under a large-scale model, the only battery charge being depleted would be when trucks enter and exit the roadway.
Crews will place transmitter coils this summer in the roadway that will charge the vehicles. If the pilot program goes well, Pekarek said the project could scale up to a larger span of roadway. He believes the technology is 15 to 20 years away from regular use.
“We have to find all the things that don’t work and get them out of the way to find what does. … This project is either going to once and for all determine if this is possible, and if so, when?” Langston said. “And how much is it going to cost?
Similar research is being conducted in Michigan, where the state transportation department partnered with Electreon, an Israel-based company that creates wireless charging infrastructure, to pilot what they say is the first public in-road charging system in the United States.