PONTIAC, Mich.—Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced plans to build the first road in the U.S. that charges electric cars while they’re driving on it, reports the Associated Press.
“Michigan was home to the first mile of paved road, and now we’re paving the way for the roads of tomorrow with innovative infrastructure that will support the economy and the environment, helping us achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Gov. Whitmer in a press release.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification have partnered on the Inductive Vehicle Charging Pilot, which will bring one mile of EV charging road to either Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties.
Next Tuesday, Sept. 28, MDOT will disperse an RFP to design, fund, evaluate, iterate, test and implement the Inductive Vehicle Charging Pilot, the release said.
Michigan is making EV infrastructure a priority. MDOT has planned a connected and autonomous vehicle corridor in Southeast Michigan and has more mobility-related patents than any other state and more engineers per capita than anywhere else in the world, the state says.
EV vehicle charging is a roadblock in EV adoption. The U.S. has about 110,000 charging stations now, but energy and auto experts say the country needs at least five to 10 times that amount to make President Biden’s electric car plan work, while the EU has nearly 200,000 charging stations, and China has over 800,000.
Another roadblock in the driver transition to EVs is the availability of fast chargers, which charge an electric battery in 20 to 40 minutes, but they cost tens of thousands of dollars. These types of chargers are needed so EV drivers will be assured they won’t be caught with a dead battery and not near a charging station. NACS Magazine recently covered the stumbling blocks in the push for the fast chargers EV drivers want in its September 2021 issue.
Register to attend the 2021 NACS Show October 5-8 at McCormick Place in Chicago and take advantage of the education sessions on electric vehicles and fuels, including these sessions developed by retailers for retailers: