Project: ELinGO - Electrification of heavy freight transport. Appendix II

There is consensus about the benefits of electrifying freight transportation, in terms of drastically
reduced emissions of green-house gases, and NOx as well as in terms of overall energy saving.
Recently, several prototypes of electrified trucks have been built by different manufacturers and many
others are been planned. All the models feature an on-board Li-Ion battery as main energy source
for the electric motor(s) driving the truck. The size of the battery varies according to the intended
payload and expected driving range of the truck, and it is often limited by weight, volume and cost
considerations. In light of the quick development of battery technology, it is expected that the first
generation of electric trucks will have batteries with capacity in the range of 100–300kWh that must
be able to deliver 250–500kW of driving power.
Building infrastructures able to charge such massive batteries in sufficiently short time is a challenge
in itself. Having the charging power transferred wirelessly from the road to the cruising vehicle is even
more difficult but, thanks to the recent technological advances, practically feasible.
In this context, a reduced scale version of such a dynamic wireless charging system is developed,
with multiple aims:
- Show-casing the inductive charging technology;
- Testing design and control methods;
- Demonstrating practical feasibility by accurate scaling-down of key components.