Officials at Michigan’s Department of Transportation in the US are planning to embed technology in the road that can charge electric vehicles while they’re being driven.

The website Fast Company reports that the wireless system will be the first American test of inductive charging on public roadways.

“We’re the auto capital. We continue to push technology advancements,” it quotes Michele Mueller, a senior project manager at the agency.

The research aims to find out if the solution is practical in the real world. Coils embedded in the road transfer magnetic energy to a receiver mounted beneath an electric vehicle to charge its battery wirelessly.  The idea is to extend electric vehicles’ battery range, reduce the idle time required to recharge batteries, and allow HGVs to transition to electric by making it possible for them to use smaller, less-expensive batteries.

(File picture – TRL)