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Dive brief:
- According to March 27, the Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University will develop the world’s first contactless charging concrete highway segment to recharge vehicles while driving. university announcements i the transit agency. German startup Magment GmbH developed a specialized magnetizable concrete which will help produce the load.
- Phases 1 and 2 of the project, which began construction April 1, will include pavement testing, analysis and optimization research conducted by the Joint Transportation Research Program at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.
- In Phase 3, the state DOT will build a quarter-mile-long test bed where engineers will test concrete’s ability to charge heavy-duty trucks at 200 kilowatts or more. DC fast chargers that connected vehicles in parking lots and rest areas typically operate within a range of 50 to 350 kilowatts, according to the US DOT.
Diving knowledge:
According to the agency, the Indiana DOT used White Construction in Clinton, Ind., to build the pilot test bed on US 231/US 52 between Cumberland Avenue and Lindberg Road in West Lafayette.
The technology Purdue is developing would allow highway pavement to recharge electric vehicles similar to how some newer smartphones can charge using magnetic fields, according to the university. Purdue eventually hopes to electrify a section of an Indiana interstate within the next four to five years.
The project is part of the Advancing Sustainability through Power Infrastructure for Road Electrification Initiative, an initiative Engineering Research Center. The designation is for programs that strengthen innovation with the potential for profound societal impacts, according to the National Science Foundation.
The ASPIRE initiative, broadly speaking, is a collaboration between universities, government labs, businesses and other stakeholders to develop charging technologies that help electrify vehicles of all sizes.
“As electric vehicles become more widely used, the demand for reliable and convenient charging infrastructure continues to grow, and the need for innovation is clear,” said Joe McGuinness, Transport Agency Commissioner for the state, in the statement.
Electric vehicles are very present in the construction industry right now, specifically in the plants that produce them.
Although automakers have said demand for electric vehicles has declined by 2024, construction of factories that will build them or their components over the next few years has continued unabated. Electric machinery construction, which includes EV battery plants, reached $35.2 billion by 2023, according to the Dodge Construction Network, which translates to about 47% of global manufacturing construction.
Construction on the Indiana DOT and Purdue Freight Road Pilot Project is scheduled for completion in 2025.
