Pavement integration of an inductive charging system for electric vehicles. Results of the INCIT-EV project

Abstract

This paper presents first studies carried out in the European project INCIT-EV, to design a solution for integrating a wireless inductive charging system for electric vehicles in a bituminous pavement. In the project, specific tests and simulations were developed to study the mechanical and thermal behaviour of this electric road. In particular, laboratory wheel tracking tests were used to study, at reduced scale, the mechanical behaviour of a charging coil integrated in the pavement. Charging tests were also performed to study the temperature variations produced by the heat dissipation in the inductive coils. Finally, finite element models have been used to simulate the thermal and mechanical response of the system in the pavement structure. The paper presents some main results of this study, which allowed to validate the mechanical behaviour of the proposed pavement structure, but also highlighted risks of overheating when the system is in operation, which will need further investigation.