University of Auckland develops EV in-road charging

Researchers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, are developing new technology for in-road charging of electric vehicles (EVs). The project, which uses inductive power transfer technology, has recently received US$8.7 million ((NZ$12 million) government funding for the development of in-road pads which would charge EVs driving or parking over them.
September 22, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Researchers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, are developing new technology for in-road charging of electric vehicles (EVs). The project, which uses inductive power transfer technology, has recently received US$8.7 million ((NZ$12 million) government funding for the development of in-road pads which would charge EVs driving or parking over them.

The New Zealand government aims to have 64,000 EVs on the country’s roads by 2021, including one third of government vehicles. However, extending the range of electric vehicles is critical to their success but many of the challenges of plug-in cars have proved difficult to solve.

The five-year project builds on technology developed by Professors John Boys and Grant Covic and will tackle requirements such as developing long-lasting charging materials that can survive being driven on and do not degrade road performance.

Related Content

  • Auckland reduces airport journey times
    April 16, 2018
    Getting from the centre of Auckland to the city’s airport used to be fraught with unwanted stress for passengers – but a new system combining radar, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is smoothing things over. Andrew Stone investigates. Struggling to cope with steady growth in passenger numbers and the costly traffic congestion which that can entail, New Zealand’s Auckland International Airport has deployed an innovative system that is smoothing traffic and passenger flows. The same system is also offering new, data-led
    Read More
  • US economic stimulus package highlights ITS technology
    July 17, 2012
    US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood talks to ITS International about economic stimulus funding and the absolute need to maintain and increase the use of technology in transportation. Of the total of $787 billion of funding announced under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the economic stimulus package which was signed into law by US President Barack Obama on 17 February 2009, $48.1 billion will go to the US Department of Transportation (USDOT). Of that, $27.5 billion is for highway in
    Read More
  • New services and equipment helps cities tackle air quality issues
    September 19, 2017
    With poor urban air quality shortening lives and fines being imposed for breaching pollution limits, authorities are seeking ways to clean up their cities. Poor air quality is topping the agenda for city authorities across the globe. In the UK, for example, a report from the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health, concluded that poor outdoor air quality shortens the lives of around 40,000 people a year – principally by undermining the health of people with heart and/or lung prob
    Read More
  • Adopting universal technology platforms for tolling
    July 16, 2012
    Dave Marples of Technolution argues that the continuing development of tolling-specific onboard equipment is leading us up a blind alley. We should, he says, be looking to realise universal platforms with universal application. The near-future automobile contains information systems of a sophistication to rival a jet airliner of only a few years ago, yet is 'piloted' by a considerably less well-trained individual of highly variable mental and physical capacity, and operated in a hostile, unpredictable and p
    Read More

Highlighted Content