Comparative study of dynamic wireless charging of electric vehicles in motorway, highway and urban stretches

Abstract

Electric vehicles are the most promising sustainable transport technology for solving problems linked to the internal combustion engine vehicles. Wireless charging reduce the main problems associated with electric vehicles, driving range, charging time and size and cost of the battery. Inductive power transfer is the most promising technology for dynamic wireless charging of electric vehicles, which can be used to supply the motors and charge the battery while moving. This paper presents a comparative study of a dynamic wireless power transfer system for charging electric vehicles driving on three stretches of traffic road (motorway, highway and urban stretch) in Cádiz (Spain). The study analyses the electricity consumption demanded by the dynamic wireless power transfer system and the battery state-of-charge of the electric vehicles that travel the stretch to evaluate the increase of autonomy, the length of the stretch or speed of the vehicle for achieving a specific increase of state-of-charge. The results show a great dependence on stretch of road, with large fluctuations in the urban stretch and more stability in the highway and motorway. This study could help to design stretches of roads with dynamic wireless power transfer and to quantify the power and energy demanded by the system.