seems like an interesting idea, but I think that's all it'll ever be.
Is it a physical connection to the vehicle? eg a pantograph system like a train? That's the most efficient way to do it, but then it only really applies to heavy vehicles, long haul trucks, passenger coaches etc on interstate runs between cities. That system already exists and is being trialed in Europe. (Tom Scott recently did a youtube video on it)
That wont work for the vast majority of regular passenger cars because nobody is going to want the bulky, ugly and very un-aerodynamic pantograph on top of their car. It'd be like having roof racks that you can't even do anything with. All the cons and none of the pro's. The few passenger cars that would have any use for it would essentially be people who primarily spend lots of time on the interstate, eg, an absurdly small segment of the somewhat niche EV market. There wouldn't be enough passenger vehicles using the system to cover the cost of the infrastructure.
Your also limited in a system to only being able to charge where the infrastructure is installed. It won't get installed all through cities because the overhead wires are unsightly and councils will refuse the planning approvals. It would be dead in the water before the first cables get strung up.
Or, is it a 'wireless' system, where they are proposing a long run of charging pads embedded in the road surface with an inductive charging pad underneath the vehicle? Again, it'll be of little benefit to most passenger cars, as they are already fairly low to the ground, there isn't really 'room' under the floor and battery pack to fit the inductive pad and not have the constant risk of damage during driving. Manufacturers won't adopt a 'standard' between themselves for such a system so it'd have to be an aftermarket install, where there is no room for it as mentioned previously.
There is also the very large lack of efficiency when it comes to inductive charging and the simple fact that the distance between the inductive charging pads is very critical, Closer is better and the efficiency drops off very quickly as the space increases. For charging your phone or tablet, its no big deal, but when scaled up to an interstate transport system it creates absolutely huge amounts of localised waste energy and heat, not to mention the extra cost, heat, maintenance, wasteage, generation capacity usage etc at the power stations that are making the electricity for the electrified highway. The environmental impact would be a substantial negative against the whole system.
How long is each charging highway going to be? If your traveling at 100mph average, a 50 mile long section of electric highway will only give you half an hours charge at a fairly low rate of charge, that'll give what? maybe another 10 miles of range?
With a highway generally costing around $2m per mile and upwards depending on many factors, that 50 mile stretch of electric highway could very easily cost $100m or more, and that's just a single 50 mile section. Is there enough demand to cover that financial outlay? especially when many general passenger cars aren't likely to be suitable for the inductive pad to be installed?
What happens when the electric highway needs to be resurfaced? Every layer added will increase the distance between the charging pad and vehicle induction pad, which further reduces the efficiency of the system, lowering the rate of charge. How are you going to regulate the system and calculate charges to the user? If its an inductive charging system there isn't really anything stopping a diy'er from making thier own inductive charger and bootlegging the charging system for free, Its not like you can just turn the road off, because that turns it off for everyone that is paying to use it. Otherwise it'd have to be a complex system that detects the user, verifies that they are eligible and turns on each section of pad as they travel over it, creating a lot of complexity and switching systems for the entire run and increasing the cost per mile to build it.
As for a physical connection between two vehicles, lol, Your now expecting someone to drive at very close proximity to the rear of the charge vehicle in front. Thats asking for an accident to happen, Or is this going to be managed by some sort of autonomous driving system? the saftey concerns alone with something like that will likely never make it past any sort of regulatory bodies.
docs.google.com
