Forget Electric Cars…How About Electric Roads?
- Posted on September 13, 2011 at 7:40pm by
Liz Klimas
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If electric cars never really take off in popularity, how about the flip side? Electrified roads.
Previous ideas with electrified roads required a coil to be attached to the car, which is unreasonable if the car is moving. Now, researchers at Toyota Central R&D Labs and Toyohashi University of Technology are looking into a method where the energy would enter the car from the road through the tires, which are always in contact with the ground. New Scientist has more on the research:
Such technology would allow electric cars to forgo their heavy batteries, which not only add to a vehicle’s weight, increasing the energy needed to move it, but also force it to sit idle while recharging.
. . .
To test how much energy would be lost as electricity travelled through the tyres’ rubber, [Masahiro] Hanazawa and [Takashi] Ohira set up a lab experiment in which they put metal plates on the floor and inside a tyre. “Less than 20 percent of the transmitted power is dissipated in the circuit,” says Ohira.
With enough power the system could run typical passenger cars, says Ohira, and the team are now developing a small-scale prototype to prove it. He admits, however, that the system’s energy loss is “much higher than regular batteries”.
Electrified roads pose an obvious problem for pedestrians — there’s no rocking on this electric avenue. New Scientist reports John Boys, an electrical engineer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, as saying that as much as 500,000 volts would be needed to power cars in the way Ohira and Hanazawa would like.
“You wouldn’t want to step on that,” he says.
New Scientist also notes infrastructure investment and radio-frequency interference as limitations to this idea.
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Comments (75)
What_Did_I_Miss
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 10:00pmIt might thin out the number of “green” spandex wearing bicyclists.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:02amWhat’s wrong with bicyclists? Really! Yesterday I rode my bike instead of driving my GMC on my 10 mile commute and it took me 40 minutes instead of 30 and I got my exercise while doing it. I figure that if I would normally do a cardio workout for 30 min. a day I actually get 10 minutes of my day back by riding the bicycle and I’m getting more of a workout too.
For all of you that think the road is only meant for the people in the metal cages on wheels, go screw yourselves. I pay my property, state income, sales tax, federal income, and gas taxes like everyone else so that road belongs as much to me on a bicycle as anyone else.
To those who time their passing so that they can pull out a whole lane without cutting people off and ensuring our mutual safety while traveling, I humbly thank you for your consideration of other people’s lives over your schedule.
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:00am.
Report Post »Great, coal powered roads too!
Where is this miracle power coming from?
Solar power? Ha!
Atomicstorm
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:15amSGTB, just stay out of the way of my hummer.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 2:44pm… just another damn stupid idea …
Report Post »Ex-Democrat
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 10:00pmSome weenie playing with his slot car set gets an “idea”. So, who gets to work the controllers?
Report Post »Enuff Zenuff
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:30amThe best controllers are made by former Ford engineer – Andy Smith – aka “Professor Motor”!
Report Post »imhunderdog
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:58pmI thought electric chairs had been outlawed in this country as “cruel and unusual” punishment. Just think, you don’t have to worry about ever hitting another deer.
Report Post »J Z
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:39pm“Roads? Where we‘re going we don’t need roads.” – Doc Brown
Report Post »ying
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:36pmThe motion on these roads could also power entire cities…..it would be free energy.
Report Post »SchenectadyScott
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:31pmIt worked for about 40 years from the 1900′s….It was the trolley railway system..all cities had them..My town still has them under the black top…I am glad they finally figured out the answer to this dilemma…..
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:48pmthey must have forgotten history.
Report Post »plus, why don’t you live near or under power lines? exactly…
Autumknight
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 10:30pmMany cities are rebuilding them and calling them “Light Rail” look at Baltimore and Norfolk.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:12pmMore “greenie-weenie” hocus pokus!
Report Post »Angeld
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:49pmHow abour an electric border! Line the border with electrecuting power.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:16pmgreat idea………use wind mills and solar panels, they don’t seem to be able to generate and send elect. to the towns but connected directly to fences?………..perfect
Report Post »spirited
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:47pmA power surge could easily solve over population.
>Imagine what a Back To The Future electrical storm could do…Ooops!
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:04pmSome parts of our state just got the power back after Irene passed through. At least people were able to drive to get food and water. With no power, no one will be able to get anything.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:49pmthat’s what they want. a total lockdown of people.
Report Post »I SPY
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:46pmGreat science fiction but the power needed to run these roads would be outrageous, not to mention the triillions of dollars handed over to Unions to build them over the course of 200 years as they draw out the labor as far as they can get it.
Report Post »Rayblue
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 12:09am“The Roads Must Roll”, Robert Heinlein.
Report Post »anigmanm
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:43pmwe had smaller versions back in the 60′s, they were called slot cars
Report Post »IronSights
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:49pmHahahaha…YES and then TCR
Report Post »JustJP
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:52pmLmao!
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:58pmDon’t forget the monorails!
Report Post »Tusker
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:38pmHow’s this going to work out in a solar flare or an emp attack? Not a very bright idea.
Report Post »What_Did_I_Miss
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 10:01pmor rain?
Report Post »pbrenda51
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 12:20pmWe wouldn’t be going anywhere anyway if we had an emp attack……our “world” would be dark and manual labor
Report Post »Attention2Detail
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:35pmDo you have any idea what 500,000 volts can do? At the power levels required to power traffic, it could destroy almost anything that came in contact with it. This idea is insane. There has to be a better way and if not we need to forget “electric roads”.
Report Post »Dug2Dark
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:33pmWho the h*ll came up with this, al bore???????????????????? I used to believe in solar energy, but unfortunately for me I lived next door to al bore, so every time he came out into his yard, his big head blocked the sun from my solar panels. Believe me folks, not only is bore’s head Really big, it’s also Really UGLY.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:32pmWhat about rain? Well it would work here in Texas anyway…
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:20pmSo if someone gets in a wreck and cuts the connection, then will everyone is stalled until it is fixed?
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:31pmWow! This sounds like a safe idea! I’ll take two! Does it come with belts to strap my hands down? Or will it place the wet sponge on your head before you can start the car?
Report Post »The Bushmaster
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:19pmCan anybody say DUMB IDEA??
Report Post »RA0725
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:09pmWhy couldn’t the chicken cross the road?
Report Post »TSUNAMI-22
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:33pm…………….Because Col. Sanders turned him into extra-crispy the day before? :)
Great, now I made myself hungry.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 9:48pmlol
Report Post »American Soldier (Separated)
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 1:13amGreat, now you made me hungry!
Report Post »Starkadder
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:07pmwhy wont my posts go up?
Report Post »slvrserfr
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:06pmDo they forget that, oh I don’t know – HUMANS can conduct electricity? Oh the possibilities, esp. if you get run over, you’ll also get electrocuted as a bonus!
Report Post »ZAP
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:06pmYes we can
Report Post »Starkadder
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:04pmAhyuk! These guys have degrees in engineering? Why dont we simply rebuild every road in the world…..and make it deadly to cross….Dufuss. Doesnt that defeat the tree huggy aspect of electric cars if the road incinerates any animal trying to cross it? While were at it we can make them all go downhill so we can just coast to where we want to go! It never ceases to amaze me how stupid “educated” people are.
Report Post »Sub-morons.
Ex-Democrat
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:25pmThat’s why intelligence tests are not academia based. IQ tests measure the ability to recognize patterns and solve problems. Colleges can stuff all the knowledge in the world into someone’s heard, but they can never give them “smarts”. You either have “smarts” or or you don’t.
Report Post »RHO1953
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:01pmIt is from an old 80′s song by Eddy Grant in 1982 called Electric Avenue. Catchy tune.
Report Post »Mr-T
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 7:53pm“there’s no rocking on this electric avenue.”… ??? WHAT!?!?! I don’t get it.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 7:56pmMan I wouldn’t want to be walking near it in a thunderstorm. Water electricity and lightening!
Report Post »Texas Tornado
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:01pmThere was a song in the early 90′s called Electric Avenue by Eddie Grant. Montgomery Ward used it in an add campaign trying to sell electronics before they went out of business.
Report Post »RHO1953
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 8:01pmElectric Avenue by Eddy Grant, 1982. Song. Catchy.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 7:50pmLive the dream at Disneyland and ride the bumper cars; ya get it all there. What tripe, indeed.
Report Post »db321
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 10:28pmMy bumber car never went anywhere – and what’s the deal with that steering wheel.
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