All-Electric (Racing) Cars without Batteries?
New technical specifications for Formula 1 racing state:
Electric is gaining popularity at the race tracks.
Two companies, Drayson Racing Technologies and HaloIPT are working together to offer completely electric vehicles. The cars may have some batteries but they would be substantially smaller than expected. The power to propel the vehicles would instead come from transmitters buried in the track! Electricity would be transmitted to the vehicles wirelessly.
This is a similar technology to what you might find in a battery-powered electric toothbrush with its wireless charging station. Recent advancements have allowed more efficiency — a greater distance between transmitter and receiver, with more misalignment.
HaloIPT has a vision of future wireless vehicles that would permit electric cars to have unlimited range and no waiting for a vehicle to charge. Similar systems have been tested in several countries for buses already. In the US, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has a study that suggests that electrified roadways are the cheapest path forward for EV adoption. Many technologies are tested on the racetrack before they become mainstream — this may be one of them.
Source: Electric Vehicle News
Additional Reading:
- Eco Buses or Trains Magnetically Getting Energy from the Road Launched in South Korea
- The “Charge As You Drive” Electric Car
- Is Wireless Power Closer Than We Think?
Photo via diskychick
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