Once the drive over pads are worked out it may even become a charge in motion ability.
This could even lead to driverless vehicles on select roads.
Be careful of what is believed as impossible. Someone else will come along and imagine just how possible it is.
No one makes a fortune believing something is impossible. Imagining possibilities is where one can find 'the pot of gold'.
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 12-02-2020 at 3:29 PM. Reason: lots of wording
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Do they still make slot cars?
I think right now charge in motion is simply impractical, not impossible.
I bet you won't see charge in motion in a state highway paid for from state funds for at least ten years. State highway departments aren't likely to want to install the technology until it is well proven. The two challenges I see are preventing corrosion from salt and how to charge drivers for the electricity. Most highways are only rebuilt from the ground up about every 50 years if they are concrete. That could be a long time to wait to add the technology without a proven way top retrofit the technology in existing pavement.
There is currently a test going on in Norway (I believe) for in-road powering for mass transit. I suspect there are other trials out there, too, even if minimal. If direct "wireless" energy transfer can function for that kind of application, it also bodes well for charging applications, too.
I agree that there are and will be challenges including for the things you mention. But I'm also confident those things will get worked out. Probably not in many our lifetimes, however...
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
It will almost certainly happen, but it isn't going to be as easy as toll transponders. Toll transponders just send your account number to the receiving antenna. Calculating how much to charge a driver for charging their car is quite another thing. There are all kinds of variables on how much electricity a particular car used. Do you trust the car to accurately report how much power it used, or does the power system have to measure how much power each car uses? If the car reports power usage you know thieves are going to try to hack the system.
There are all kinds of claims as to how efficient wireless charging will be versus charging via a cable. The efficiency claims for a stationary wireless charging pad are between 75% and about 92% right now. At 75% I would rather plug in my car when it is stationary.
The focus of this approach is vehicles that regularly drive between major metropolitan centers. It's likely intended for long haul trucking and motorcoaches.
The Swedish experiment specifically mentioned the extreme cost of electrifying rail traffic versus retrofitting paved roads.
I expect the advent of higher capacity batteries, at lower weight will render the approach redundant.
https://www.theguardian.com/environm...droidApp_Other
Still viable on fixed routes. Siemens had a test bed operating near Frankfurt as recently as 2017.
The apparatus is impractical for smaller vehicles and has a significant (negative) impact on drag.
https://electrek.co/2017/08/11/elect...obahn-germany/
I did some reading on stationary wireless charging. Apparently the leading contender is a resonate circuit approach. You can read more about the different approaches here.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
I don't quite understand how the track in the road works. Wouldn't the vehicles need to be nearly centered in the lane to make it work? How does engaging and disengaging work?
I'll have to see if I can find an article about that system.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
There's a Video on The Guardian, showing a spring mounted swing arm beneath the vehicle. It seems obvious that keeping a trench clear in the middle of a road - and energized in the rain - is a challenge.
There must be an optimal speed to connect.
The takeaway was that modifying roads was considerably less expensive than electrifying existing rail.