A consortium led by French motorway company Vinci Autoroutes plans to test inductive charging of electric vehicles while driving on a section of the A10 motorway near Paris. Installation of the necessary coils in the road surface began at the start of the year. It has now been confirmed that these will transmit 200 kW continuous power and 300 kW peak power.
The A10 test track is located near the town of Angervilliers near Paris and is 1.5 kilometres long. Since the beginning of January, the necessary induction coils have been installed under the asphalt. Those responsible are using a system from the Israeli company Electreon, which specialises in inductive charging systems. As announced in 2023, this is a ‘next-generation system’ with significantly increased power transmission capacity, additional software functions such as real-time monitoring and a more robust architecture.
The project participants have now also quantified the power transmission: “Three laboratories from Gustave Eiffel University conducted on-site test campaigns under real traffic conditions. Their initial analysis of the collected data is already promising: the installed inductive system can safely deliver peak power above 300 kW and average power above 200 kW under optimal steady-state conditions,” according to an accompanying statement. In addition to Vinci Autoroutes, Electreon and Gustave Eiffel University, Vinci Construction, Hutchinson and Bpifrance, the French public sector investment bank, are also involved in the project, which is called ‘Charge as you drive’.
Incidentally, a similar project is underway in Germany: a test track for inductive charging of electric vehicles while driving is also being prepared on the A6 motorway in the Upper Palatinate. The section between Amberg-West and Sulzbach-Rosenberg is just under one kilometre long. Initial test drives as part of the E|MPOWER project are planned for the second half of the year. Electreon is also the technology partner here.
But back to France: for the tests, a truck, a van, a car and a coach were each equipped with receiver coils to test dynamic inductive charging directly with different types of vehicles.
Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of Vinci Concessions and President of VINCI Autoroutes, said:The initial results of the ongoing trials on a section of the A10 motorway confirm the findings of previous studies. Deploying this technology on France’s main road networks, in addition to charging stations, will further accelerate the electrification of heavy-vehicle fleets—and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the freight and logistics sector, which alone accounts for more than 16% of the country’s total emissions.
Oren Ezer, CEO of Electreon, commented:This is a pivotal moment in the global development of electric roads. The system’s outstanding performance, demonstrated through the project and verified by independent laboratories in France, shows that our technology is the only one capable of delivering dynamic vehicle charging with such power and reliability—without any competitors able to match its standard. Electreon’s technology meets, and even exceeds, all the requirements set by the French government. I believe these results pave the way for the deployment of thousands of kilometers of wireless road using our technology in France, and later across Europe.
This article was originally published by Electreon
