The concept is no different from trains travelling along a charged track. While any real-world implementation is a long way off, the TEV team is building a trial road for a lower estimated cost per mile than traditional highway.
Headed by a father-daughter team from Scotland, the Tracked Electric Vehicle project envisions an electric future without charging stations. Anna Hirtenstein writes, "TEV Project highways would have an electrified metal strip embedded into the middle of the road which provides a constant source of power to the vehicle. Just like streetcars and subway trains do in today's cities, cars on a TEV highway could charge as they drive."
TEV is a nonprofit business that has drawn attention from major infrastructure companies. Its financial estimates are promising. "TEV Project plans to build its first trial road by next year at an estimated cost of $1.2 million to $1.8 million per mile, a price that is less than for a traditional highway."
Of course, EVs currently represent a minuscule portion of the world's automobile fleet. But the TEV project should also be of interest to those of us who imagine fleets of electric self-drivers ferrying people through the city.
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research