'Revolutionary' Road That Wirelessly Charges EV’s Completed In Italy

Italy, 02 December 2021: Arena del Futuro (‘Arena of the Future), the first worldwide collaborative innovation project demonstrating contactless charging for a range of EVs while they drive on highways and toll roads was inaugurated in Brescia, Italy on 2nd  December 2021. The project is launched by the world's fourth-largest automaker and provider of innovative mobility solution Stellantis, in collaboration with Electreon - a leading provider of inductive in-road charging technology and some other international partners, public institutions and universities.

The construction and technical implementation of Arena del Futuro is located in a private area of the A35 autostrada near the Chiari Ovest exit and is a 1,050-metre long circuit built by the A35 Brebemi motorway that connects the cities of Brescia & Milan powered with an electrical output of 1 MW. The integrated wireless technology was tested on the New 500 and the Iveco E-Way bus and has clocked miles of testing with more encouraging results.

The circuit is equipped with a DWPT (Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer) system created by a group of highly skilled technicians and is used to charge EVs wirelessly by driving in wired lanes installed with special turns under the tarmac. The vehicles are charged with a special receiver transferring energy coming from the road infrastructure to the battery and are also embedded with IoT connectivity technologies to ensure road safety. The system is proving to be one of the best options in providing specific answers when it comes to the decarbonisation and environmental sustainability needs of the mobility sector.

Anne-Lise Richard, Head of the Global e-Mobility Business Unit at Stellantis was quoted saying in its press release published on 2nd December that, “this is a cutting-edge solution to provide a concrete answer to the issues of range and charging, both of which customers are concerned about.” To follow up on the announcements made at EV Day, Anne-Lise Richard stated: “We’re accelerating our role of defining the mobility of the future and, in this sense, DWPT technology seems to us to be in line with our desire to offer a concrete response to customers’ requirements. Charging vehicles while they are on the move provides clear advantages in terms of charging times and the size of their batteries.”

The project has been cited as one of the 100 most important inventions of 2021 by the prestigious Time magazine and is one of the first international collaborative innovations for “zero-emissions” mobility. The Collaborating partners of the project include A35 Brebemi-Aleatica, ABB, Electreon, FIAMM Energy Technology, IVECO, IVECO Bus, Mapei, Pizzarotti, Politecnico di Milano, Prysmian, Stellantis, TIM, Roma Tre University and the University of Parma.