Detroit is now home to the country’s first chunk of road that can wirelessly charge an electric vehicle (EV), whether it’s parked or moving.

Why it matters: Wireless charging on an electrified roadway could remove one of the biggest hassles of owning an EV: the need to stop and plug in regularly.

  • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    The point would not be to never plug in, but instead extend the drive time of an EV by using certain roads.

    If on a full charge you get 250miles, but if you take a slightly alternative route and get 500 miles, you’re going to have much less resistance to EVs in any community that would be likely to use these roads.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      You missed the 50% loss. Wasted energy. Means you have more infrastructure delivering electricity that isn’t utilized. Means you have more production that isn’t utilized.

      And batteries already have a loss of up to 20% during charge from heating.

        • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It wouldn’t reduce the inefficiency though. You still have 50% of that power being lost, which means you need 50% more renewable generation. It’s wasteful.

          • NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            That’s the good thing about renewable energy, we can waste some without it being a big deal.

            Efficiency was the wrong word, but I can’t find the right one.

            • HubertManne@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              um not really. Renewables aren’t completely free. Solar panels, turbines, etc. They have to be replaced. with 50% efficiency loss your talking about twice as much mining and manufacturing of the renewable infrastructure. That produces carbon and waste like anything else and more use of limited materials.

      • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Yeah and who uses the energy that is lost? Nobody. It’s not a 50% loss to a driver, it’s all gain over the last charge stop.

        As someone who did 500 miles this last week in an EV with 2 little kids, let me tell you it would be fucking worth it not to interrupt my sleeping children even if it’s not 100% efficient.

        • anubis119@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Electricity isn’t free. Convenience doesn’t make things a good idea nor economically viable. Need to charge on the go? Overhead catenary charging is a technology that’s already developed for use on vehicles and solves the efficiency issue.

      • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        I actually make a yearly pilgrimage of 500 miles and apart from gas stops I go nonstop, no breaks. I find that making numerous stops wears me out and I start to fall asleep in the last couple hours. Could easily be because I’m adding hours to my drive if that’s the case though.

        Edit: Keep in mind though, the 250 is typically ideal. You can easily have a range down to 100 miles or less with a few years of general use. A wireless charging solution would ease such wear and tear.

          • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            1 year ago

            Truck drivers do it all the time, I’m just doing it to visit family. 😜

            The wasted energy isn’t inherently a problem. If it is 100% renewable, for instance, it would be more environmentally friendly to have no battery with 99% wasted energy.

            So moving forward as we move more and more to a green grid, the concern of wasted energy becomes less and less.

          • Zeoic@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Ehh, i dont really see a problem driving that long as long as you start it when you first get up for the day. I do 8 hour drives multiple times a year to go see family and only stop after 6 hours to gas up, then continue on. With how quick gasing up is with paying at the pump these days, 3 minutes of stop doesn’t sound to far fetched.