Status of The Technology for Electrical Road Focusing on Wireless Charging : International Outlook

Abstract: Abstract The transportation sector has a vital role in today’s society and accounts for 20 % of our global total energy consumption. It is also one of the most greenhouse gas emission intensive sectors as almost 95 % of its energy originates from petroleum-based fuels. Due to the possible harmful nature of greenhouse gases, there is a need for a transition to more sustainable transportation alternatives. A possible alternative to the conventional petroleum-based road transportation is, implementation of Electric Road Systems (ERS) in combination with electric vehicles (Evs). There are currently three proven ERS technologies, namely, conductive power transfer through overhead lines, conductive power transfer from rails in the road and inductive power transfer through the road. The wireless charging or inductive charging electric vehicles (EV) are a type of EVs with a battery which is charged from a charging infrastructure and using the wireless power transfer technology. The wireless charging EVs are classified as stationary or dynamic charging EVs. The stationary charging EVs charge wirelessly when they are parked as well as dynamic charging EVs can charge while they are in motion. Number of studies have reported that, one of the main benefits of dynamic charging is, it allows smaller as well as lighter batteries to be used due to the frequent charging using in the charging infrastructure embedded under roads. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the recent developments of technologies in wireless charging system globally and find out the best effective method which can use for fuelling all Electric vehicles. The findings show that not all countries are viable for ERS from an economic standpoint, however, a large number of countries in the world do have good prospects for ERS implementation. Findings further indicated that small and developed countries are best suited for ERS implementation. From a technological and Business perspective, the wireless charging system in road was found to be the most attractive ERS technology followed by overhead conductive road ERS technologies.