Electric lines will pave the way for smaller car batteries, shows model study

If an electric car charges while driving, the size of the battery can be reduced by up to 70 percent and the load on the grid can be spread out throughout the day. Charging on the go is right for most people, but not everyone. This is shown by a new study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, where researchers for the first time combined a so-called electric line system with real-life driving models of Swedish drivers. .

The Swedish government has proposed a ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. A similar trend is seen across Europe, as demonstrated by the rapid increase in sales of electric vehicles. As this development progresses, challenges also increase, including uneven loads on the grid and where to charge. tram.

Different ways to charge your car on the go

Several countries, including Sweden, Denmark and Germany, are testing electricity road (ERS) can be used to electrify the road network. ERS charges vehicles traveling by loops in or on the side of the road or by slings above the vehicle, similar to trams and trains.

All variants mean vehicles don’t need to be parked to charge and require less large batteries to store energy to overcome “range anxiety,” a term referring to fear or anxiety. worry about electric vehicle drivers’ experiences with their electric distances. mean of transportation can move before needing to charge the battery.

Now, researchers from Chalmers have used data from more than 400 coach to study real driving patterns on different parts of Swedish and European national roads. They used the data to calculate, among other things, the size of the battery needed to complete all journeys with possible charging options (fixed vs. ERS), charging pattern and total cost included. including infrastructure and batteries.

Smaller batteries lead to lower costs

The results show that the combination of power lines over 25% of the busiest national and European roads and home charging would be optimal. Batteries, which make up a large part of the cost of an electric car, can become significantly smaller, at best a third of their current size.

“We’ve found that more than two-thirds of the battery’s required operating range can be reduced if you combine charging in this way. This will reduce the need for raw materials for batteries, and electric cars could also become more expensive,” he said. should be cheaper for consumers,” said Sten Karlsson, who, along with research colleagues Wasim Shoman and Sonia Yeh, is behind the study “Benefits of an electric line system for battery-powered electric vehicles.”

Other positive effects are that peak power consumption will be reduced if car drivers do not rely entirely on charging at home but also supplement with electric charging on the road.

“After all, many people charge their cars after work and at night, which puts a lot of strain on the grid. Instead, charging more evenly during the day, the maximum load will be significantly reduced.”

Limited benefits in sparsely populated areas

But different groups of drivers also have different conditions for benefiting from a combination of fixed charging and ERS.

“There was a big difference between groups, depending on driving style and distance from the power line. Even in the optimal case, some would do just fine with charging the line, while others completely. could not use this opportunity.For example, we Wasim Shoman said.

Research also shows that small batteries do not automatically lead to charging through the ERS.

“Just because you can charge a fee doesn’t mean that consumers really want to do it at every given opportunity. Therefore, the business model becomes extremely important as the benefits and costs can be accounted for. distributed unevenly. And there is still no decision on what the business model will look like,” said Sten Karlsson.

The study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.