Can vehicle charging-roads power our electric future?
Roads create energy for electric vehicles
Energy harvesting is nothing new
Historically, researchers have long been interested inkinetic energy. This includes, for instance, research into creatingenergy-harvesting bootsthat gain energy through walking and hearable tech powered byjaw movements.
Today you can see this kind of energy in action with thePower Watch, which runs on thermoelectrics.
But it’s preceded by the ultimate yuppie status trend of the 1980s, the Quartz watch. Quartz watches are battery-powered watches that always tell the correct time. As their name suggests, they feature quartz crystals, a material that generates an electric charge through a process known aspiezoelectricity.
The battery sends electricity to the quartz, which makes an oscillator vibrate. These vibrations generate one electrical pulse per second, which drives the watch’s motor, ensuring a correct time.
What does this have to with cars, you ask?
Since IoT became a thing in the 2010s, researchers have been working on usingpiezoelectricitytogenerate energy from vehiclesand provide a supplement or replacement to electric vehicle charging.
Why do we need energy-harvesting roads?
Roads that harvest energy and use it to charge vehicles reduce the reliance on electric vehicle batteries, especially in large vehicles such astrucksand buses.
They also reduce vehicle charging time, reducerange anxiety, and lessen the reliance on charging stations.
Other research areas
Researchers and startups are explicitly working on some key areas:
Harvesting sound energy from passing cars
While electric vehicles may be quieter than their gas-guzzling predecessors, they still make a noise. And this sound is a form of energy.
A studentresearcherusing the moniker MechanicalAttraction designed acantileverbeam that oscillates at a frequency that enables it to adsorb sound waves and convert mechanical motion into electricity.
In his research, the energy generated by cars is 0.20 volts. It’s not much, but it demonstrates the efficacy of the technology. And I’m sure that there’s room for improvement.
More recentresearchhas found that energy generated from high-speed rail is sufficient to power a variety of low-power electric devices.
This is just a few of the research projects into piezoelectrics and thermoelectric energy harvesting. While the bulk of the focus on electric roads has been on research, we also see real-world applications powering electric vehicles.
You think EV-charging roads are weird? Well, it gets weirder
Another application for energy generation is people-powered kinetic floor tiles. Yep, I told you it was weird.
A commercial application isPavegen. As pedestrians walk across the Pavegen system, the weight from their footsteps compresses electromagnetic generators below, producing 2-4 joules of power of off-grid electricity per step.
As part of the system, Low-Power Bluetooth beacons connect to the Pavegen-GO platform. Pavegan can communicate with users’ smartphones, and provide rich customer analytics data via a permission-based rewards system.
The energy generated through Pavegen is enough to power small applications like environmental sensors, LED lighting, screens, and batteries.
While I’m not sure I want my footsteps generating phone alerts at will, I can imagine this idea gaining traction inAR gaming.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart ci(show all)Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart cities, and the future of alternative energy sources like electric batteries, solar, and hydrogen.
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