The trade association for contractors and suppliers for concrete roads has called for a shift in the strategy for charging electric vehicles (EVs) towards wireless charging by concrete ‘eRoads’.
Britpave, the British Cementitious Paving Association, pointed to media reports of EV owners, particularly Tesla drivers, queuing for hours for rapid chargers over Christmas, arguing that this underlined ‘the inadequacies of the UK electric car charging network’.
It said concrete eRoads allow vehicle batteries to be charged inductively via wireless systems using magnetic coils installed in the road surface that feed an electric charge to magnetic coils fitted on a vehicle’s undercarriage and so charge the battery.
Chairman Joe Quirke said: ‘The number of electric cars significantly outweighs the number of charging points. As proven by the excessive queues over Christmas, this can result in problems for motorists wanting to ensure that their vehicle batteries are adequately charged for journeys.
‘We believe that that best way forward is the provision of concrete eRoads that charge electric vehicles as they pass over them.’
He added: ‘The long-term strength and performance of concrete makes it the better option for such roads as they do no need regular maintenance and in hot summers – such as the summer that we have just had – do not melt unlike asphalt roads. Road surface melting could dislodge and compromise the embedded coils.’
Mr Quirke pointed to other developments for concrete eRoads, which involved making the road itself conductive.
He said: ‘In Australia, Talga Resources are mixing graphene into concrete to make the road conductive. Whilst in Germany, Magment – concrete containing magnetic ferrite particles – is being developed for road construction.
‘If the potential for electric vehicles is to be realised then there must be a ready and easily available power supply. Concrete eRoads could provide such a supply. We would welcome a round table discussion with government, National Highways, car manufacturers and coil suppliers to examine potential concrete eRoad alternatives to chargers.’
