Coventry is changing the electric car landscape in England – and the technology has evolved to a point that you might not need to stop to recharge your car. Petrol is losing space in the automotive industry, and while there are still more internal combustion engines on the streets, electric vehicles are taking over with powerful batteries and thousands of horsepower in a single half-hour charge. Now, what would happen if you didn’t have to stop to refuel? This is what the city is trying to figure out.
Is recharging without stopping already possible in the UK?
While recharging stations are already everywhere in the UK, the idea of not having to stop to recharge your car is gaining traction in Coventry. The movement could extend to other cities in England and Scotland – since most innovations when it comes to traffic law are often shared by the two countries, and sometimes Wales too.
The only thing it will take for you to recharge your car without stopping and connecting a charger is to ride on top of the correct area, and you’ll see what happens. While wireless chargers are a reality in the cellphone industry, the automotive front is totally different: they need to be bigger, there’s more than one (normally one in each wheel) and deliver hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of horsepower.
Coventry leading the way to the future: No stop to recharge
Coventry University is helping to test out a new way for electric vehicles to recharge while they’re on the move. The idea is to fit roads with power-enabled coils so that cars, buses, or vans can top up their batteries just by driving over them.
The project, called Dynacov (short for “dynamic charging of vehicles”), uses wireless transfer technology to automatically connect with vehicles that are signed up to the system. As they pass over the coils, the vehicles recharge and are billed for the energy they use. For busy cities, this could be a big step in keeping buses and delivery trucks running smoothly without adding to emissions.
Dynacov is being tested on part of Kenilworth Road at its junction with the A45. The trial is led by the city’s council, working with Coventry University, Cenex, and National Grid Electricity Distribution. It builds on earlier prototypes developed by ElectReon, which could be beneficial for BYD in the future.
Other projects are taking place in the country simultaneously
The project is part of a wider set of studies from the Key Cities Innovation Network, a group of 27 urban areas across England and Wales. These studies explore different ways universities can work with local communities to cut emissions — from new technologies to better climate policies. The work fits naturally with the city’s long history in the automotive industry. At the moment, the UK has set a target to phase out non-zero-emission heavy goods vehicles by 2040. But the exact technology to get there hasn’t been decided.
Specialists’ opinions: Everybody can contribute to the future
Kevin Vincent, who leads Coventry University’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Automotive Research, said the project shows what can happen when universities and local authorities share the same goal of building more sustainable cities and work quickly with industry to make it happen.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for jobs, regeneration, and climate change, added that innovation is at the heart of the city’s identity, especially in transport. He said it’s exciting to be working with the university and Cenex on a system that can charge vehicles as they drive, because solutions like this could speed up the switch to electric transport – add artificial intelligence in cars, and you’ll have a new project.
