The Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University early in July announced plans to develop the first contactless wireless-charging concrete pavement highway segment. The project will use innovative magnetizable concrete developed by German startup Magment GmbH enabling wireless dynamic charging of electric vehicles as they drive.

Magment is an innovative concrete material created from cement and recycled magnetic particles that enhances the transfer of energy with high robustness and excellent performance

The project will include three phases and is expected to begin later this summer.

Phases 1 and 2 of the project will feature pavement testing, analysis, and optimization research conducted by the Joint Transportation Research Program (JTRP) at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.

In phase 3, INDOT will construct a quarter-mile-long testbed at a location yet to be determined, where engineers will test the innovative concrete’s capacity to charge heavy trucks operation at high power (200 kilowatts and above).

Upon successful completion of testing of all three phases, INDOT will use the new technology to electrify a yet to be determined segment of interstate highway within Indiana.

The project is part of the Advancing Sustainability through Power Infrastructure for Road Electrification (ASPIRE) Initiative, an Engineering Research Center funded by NSF, the National Science Foundation, and involves the collaboration of universities, government laboratories, businesses, and other stakeholders developing next-generation charging technologies for the electrification of Transportation vehicles of all classes.