Israel-based Electreon, a developer ofin-road wireless electric vehicle charging technology for shared, commercial and passenger vehicles, and ASPIRE (Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification), an NSF-funded engineering research center, are launching a joint demonstration project.

Electreon’s in-motion (dynamic) wireless charging technology will be installed in ASPIRE’s research test track in North Logan, Utah, in summer 2022 to showcase the company’s technology for the first time in North America. The launch of the test bed comes in advance of Electreon’s first deployment on a public road in the US in 2023 in Detroit—a partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), among others. (Earlier post.)

The demonstration will consist of 50 meters of dynamic in-road wireless charging hardware installed in Utah State University’s (USU) test track. Corresponding vehicle side charging hardware will be installed on a Kenworth truck, and power management and charging communication systems will also be included.

Utah test track

This site will function as a live demonstration facility for departments of transportation, other government officials, current and potential industry partners, as well as Electreon’s potential and prospective partners and clients to experience Electreon’s in-motion wireless charging as the technology moves to market deployment in the US.Electreon will also use this project as a test bed to conduct future vehicle integration programs with automakers.

So far, Electreon has already demonstrated its dynamic wireless charging technology in four operational pilots across Europe and now we are thrilled to kick off our first US-based deployment with USU’s ASPIRE, displaying the viability of our in-road wireless charging infrastructure.

We are excited at the prospect of advancing sustainable charging technology in hopes of supporting the US movement toward an all-electric future. This project will allow us to engage with partners and clients to develop pilot and commercial projects in the whole nation and will allow for ongoing testing in advance of US projects on public roadways, including the recently announced project in Detroit.

—Stefan Tongur, vice president business development for Electreon in North America

This demonstration project collaboration with ASPIRE, in part, aims to validate dynamic wireless charging technology solutions for several upcoming pilot projects that include the Utah Inland Port Authority (Salt Lake City, UT), the Central Florida Expressway (Orlando, FL) and developing projects in several states across the nation.

Electreon and ASPIRE are also partnering on the demonstration project with Kiewit Corporation, which will provide expert insight into installation and construction processes for electric roads. The project also includes Kenworth Truck Company, which has delivered a Class 8 Kenworth T680 Classic to USU for the integration with the Electreon system at the test track.

Research Center was launched in September, 2020 with a $50-million, 10-year grant from the National Science Foundation with its main purpose to support widespread adoption of electric transportation through developing technologies and clearing barriers leading to low cost, ubiquitous charging infrastructure. One of the key aspects of the ASPIRE research portfolio is dynamic wireless power transfer, a research and development area where USU and its ASPIRE partner universities have led advances for many years.

The ASPIRE university partners (Purdue University, University of Colorado Boulder, The University of Texas at El Paso, and University of Auckland, New Zealand) are joined by more than 60 industry, government, and non-profit members from all sectors of the electric transportation ecosystem.