France trials world’s first ‘charge-as-you-drive’ stretch of motorway
A stretch of autoroute near Paris will introduce the world’s first wireless ‘charge-as-you-drive’ system on a motorway when it’s powered up later in 2025.
Work to install induction plates under the 1.5 kilometre (0.93 mile) stretch of the A10 near the French capital has been completed by motorway operator, Vinci, with first tests scheduled to start in September. Prototype vehicles – a car, van, coach, and lorry – will have their batteries paired with a reciever to pick up charge from the motorway’s under-road coil segments, which are powered by under-ground and over-ground management units.
A leading argument behind wireless EV charging is its charging method of ‘little and often’, which places less stress on an EV’s battery as opposed to one large charging session, ultimately extending battery health in the long-term. This approach has also been found to have led to a reduction in range anxiety and vehicle weight as a smaller battery can be used to top up quicker than a larger unit.
Despite having to dig up the stretch of road to install the coils, a Vinci spokesperson said that the blacktop appears unchanged. “You look at the road now and you will not know that it has this special technology in it,” they told The Connexion news outlet.
“Installing the technology went well, and now the main testing sessions to check whether it is practical for electric lorries and cars are due to start in September.”
A criticism levelled at charge-as-you-drive roads is their cost. In 2024, French MPs were told that a single kilometre of this technology costs at least €4 million. Yet if successful, the technology could give motorway operators the opportunity to profit from selling the electricity to motorists as the make their way along the roads.
Earlier this year, EV Powered spoke to Electreon, an Israeli firm responsible for rolling out charge-as-you-drive technologies in several locations across Europe, the United States, and Japan. Rather than electrifying long stretches of high-speed road, much of its work is examining wireless charging in “dead zones” of roads – areas such as at traffic lights or bus stops, where vehicles are can receive a small charging boost while stationary.
