There is always a first time for everything, and today, we have word that the first road-powered electric vehicle network in the world has just turned itself on in South Korea. What you see in the image above depicts an OLEV in South Korea, which is all set to drive over an electrified strip of road, now how about that? This particular network will comprise of specially constructed roads that come with electrical cables installed right below the surface, and it will be able to transfer energy wirelessly to electric vehicles using magnetic resonance.
Road-powered electric vehicles could be the future as they require small batteries, which means their overall weight and energy consumption is reduced sharply from a normal electric vehicle. Of course, there is also the benefit of not having to recharge your ride, which means distance should no longer be an issue. Right now, this road-powered electric vehicle network comprises of just 24km, and two Online Electric Vehicles (OLEV), namely public transport buses, are the only ones that will work on this road.
Many other factors will still need to be taken into consideration before it can be implemented worldwide – the cost of a government doing so would be astronomical, as all roads in the city would require an overhaul, and how many people are willing to change their rides to road-powered electric vehicles? It does seem that a Mass Rapid Transport system like trains would still be able to get the job done better at this point in time.
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