WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana, the “Crossroads of America,” is taking a significant leap into the future of transportation. Purdue University engineers, in collaboration with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), are spearheading an innovative “Cars Program Indot” aimed at making wireless charging a reality for electric vehicles on highways. This groundbreaking initiative envisions a future where EVs, from heavy-duty tractor-trailers to everyday passenger cars, can charge dynamically as they drive, eliminating range anxiety and paving the way for sustainable transportation.
Currently under construction in West Lafayette is a quarter-mile test bed on U.S. Highway 231/U.S. Highway 52. This dedicated section will serve as a real-world laboratory for evaluating a patent-pending wireless charging system developed by Purdue’s expert engineers. The focus of this initial phase is to assess the system’s capability to efficiently deliver power to a heavy-duty electric truck traveling at typical highway speeds. This ambitious project is a cornerstone of INDOT’s broader “cars program indot” strategy, positioning Indiana as a leader in electric vehicle infrastructure innovation.
“Thanks once again to some engineers and pioneers from Purdue, we’re developing the world’s first highway test bed for wireless charging,” Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced at COP27, a prominent United Nations environmental conference in Egypt. Highlighting the collaborative spirit of the “cars program indot”, he added, “Please remember that one. Yes, we will be testing whether concrete can charge passing trucks — and don’t bet against a Purdue Boilermaker.” This bold statement underscores the confidence and excitement surrounding this pioneering project within the broader scope of the cars program indot.
Construction of this innovative test bed, a key component of the cars program indot, commenced on April 1st and is projected to continue throughout the fall. A state-of-the-art electric truck, provided by Indiana-based Cummins Inc., will be instrumental in the pilot program scheduled to commence next year. This program, at the heart of the cars program indot, aims to rigorously test the wireless charging capabilities in a real-world highway environment. The ultimate ambition, stemming from this cars program indot, is to electrify a substantial section of an Indiana interstate within the next four to five years, marking a transformative step in transportation infrastructure.
While several states and nations are exploring wireless EV charging roads, INDOT’s cars program indot, in partnership with Purdue, is tackling the unique challenges presented by highways and heavy-duty trucks. Highway speeds demand significantly higher power levels for effective wireless charging compared to slower city road applications.
The wireless charging system designed by Purdue engineers under the umbrella of the cars program indot is engineered to operate at power levels exceeding current U.S. demonstrations. By catering to the substantial power requirements of heavy-duty vehicles, this innovative design inherently accommodates the lower power needs of lighter vehicle classes as well, showcasing the versatility of the cars program indot approach.
Why Prioritize Electrified Highways for Trucks?
Indiana’s central geographic location makes it a critical artery for national transportation. Remarkably, 80% of the U.S. population can be reached within a single day’s drive from Indiana’s extensive highway network. The cars program indot strategically recognizes this, aiming to maximize the impact of electrified highways.
Focusing initially on heavy-duty trucks within the cars program indot framework offers the greatest potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring the economic viability of EV infrastructure development. Heavy-duty trucks are among the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions within the U.S. transportation sector, a fact central to the cars program indot’s motivation. Their substantial fuel consumption, driven by the constant transport of goods, further underscores the environmental and economic benefits of electrification targeted by the cars program indot.
“The so-called ‘middle mile’ of the supply chain, which refers to all the travel heavy-duty trucks have to do to carry goods from one major location to another, is the most challenging part of the transportation sector to decarbonize,” explains Nadia Gkritza, a Purdue professor of civil engineering and agricultural and biological engineering, and a leading expert in the cars program indot.
The cars program indot anticipates that enabling electric heavy-duty trucks to charge or maintain their charge on highways will revolutionize freight transportation. Smaller battery sizes become feasible, allowing trucks to carry more cargo, significantly reducing operational costs for EV freight transport. Given that trucking contributes the largest share to the U.S. gross domestic product compared to other freight modes, the cost reductions facilitated by the cars program indot could stimulate substantial investment in nationwide electrified highways, benefiting all classes of electric vehicles.
“We’re developing a system that has the power to charge semitractor-trailers as they move 65 miles per hour down the road,” states John Haddock, a professor in Purdue’s Lyles School of Civil Engineering, further emphasizing the ambitious goals of the cars program indot.
Highways Charging EVs: A Smartphone Analogy
The wireless charging technology at the heart of INDOT’s cars program indot draws a parallel to the convenience of modern smartphone wireless charging. Imagine highway pavement seamlessly providing power to EVs, much like placing a smartphone on a charging pad.
“If you have a cellphone and you place it on a charger, there is what’s called magnetic fields that are coming up from the charger into that phone. We’re doing something similar. The only thing that’s different is the power levels are higher and you’re going out across a large distance from the roadway to the vehicle,” explains Steve Pekarek, Purdue’s Edmund O. Schweitzer, III Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, a key innovator within the cars program indot. He further simplifies the concept, “This is a simple solution. There are complicated parts of it, and that we leave to the vehicle manufacturers.”
The Purdue-designed wireless charging system, central to the cars program indot, incorporates transmitter coils embedded beneath the concrete pavement in dedicated lanes. These coils wirelessly transmit power to receiver coils installed on the underside of electric vehicles.
While other wireless EV charging initiatives also utilize transmitter and receiver coils, the cars program indot distinguishes itself by focusing on the high power demands of heavy-duty trucks. The Purdue design accommodates a broader power range, eliminating the need for multiple low-power receiver coils on trailers, a solution previously considered to meet high-power demands. Instead, the cars program indot’s system employs a single, simplified receiver coil assembly placed under the tractor.
Furthermore, the transmitter coils developed under the cars program indot are specifically designed for integration within concrete pavement, which constitutes 20% of the U.S. interstate system. This is a significant advancement, as other coil designs have primarily been developed for asphalt pavement.
“The whole idea is if you can charge your car on the road while in motion, then you’re basically riding for free,” notes Aaron Brovont, a Purdue research assistant professor in Purdue’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, highlighting the user benefit envisioned by the cars program indot.
Extensive testing, a crucial aspect of the cars program indot, has been conducted on 20-foot sections of concrete and asphalt with embedded transmitter coils to evaluate their load-bearing capacity under heavy truck traffic. Machines simulating the repeated axle loads of semi-trucks were used to rigorously test the pavement sections. Complementing these mechanical tests, laboratory experiments have validated the electromagnetic performance of both the transmitter and receiver coils developed within the cars program indot.
Paving the Way for Nationwide EV Charging Infrastructure
The groundbreaking research underpinning INDOT’s cars program indot has garnered significant attention from national media outlets, including The New York Times, CNBC, and Popular Mechanics, signaling its potential to reshape the future of EV charging infrastructure.
The partnerships forged through the cars program indot extend beyond Indiana’s borders, reaching across the nation. In addition to funding from INDOT through the Joint Transportation Research Program at Purdue, the project is affiliated with ASPIRE (Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification), a fourth-generation National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. ASPIRE is dedicated to accelerating the advancement of electrified transportation in all its forms, aligning perfectly with the goals of the cars program indot.
Many real-world deployments of wireless pavement charging in the U.S. are spearheaded by members of ASPIRE, with Purdue as a founding member and Gkritza serving as the campus director for ASPIRE’s Purdue location, further solidifying the university’s leadership in the cars program indot.
Headquartered at Utah State University, ASPIRE unites academia, scientific research, and practical testing across a vast network of over 400 members from 10 partner universities and over 60 industry, government, and non-profit organizations, all contributing to the broader ecosystem of electric transportation and supporting initiatives like the cars program indot.
ASPIRE’s Purdue and Cummins teams are also jointly leading a U.S. Department of Energy-funded project to develop a comprehensive EV charging and hydrogen fueling plan for medium- and heavy-duty trucks along the Midwest’s Interstate 80 corridor, which traverses Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. This plan will specifically evaluate the integration of the wireless power transfer technology being tested in West Lafayette as part of the cars program indot.
“We don’t envision 100% of the roads being electrified,” clarifies Gkritza, offering a realistic perspective on the future of dynamic wireless power within the cars program indot. “But we see the potential for dynamic wireless power pavement technology as complementary to an expanding network of EV charging stations that we will see very soon here in the U.S. We feel it would be useful in areas where charging stations are scarce in underserved communities, even supporting transit routes where initial charging at the depots and terminal stations might not be enough and there might need to be some charging in between the routes.”
The researchers involved in the cars program indot project anticipate that achieving full power delivery to EVs at highway speeds may take 20 to 30 years. The decision to incorporate receiver coils into electric vehicles ultimately rests with EV manufacturers.
“The technical obstacles that we need to overcome are not insurmountable. Those can be overcome with proper design,” assures Dionysios Aliprantis, a Purdue electrical and computer engineering professor, reinforcing the feasibility of the cars program indot vision.
The team behind the cars program indot is optimistic that their experimental results will demonstrate the viability of electrified highways to the industry. “We are Purdue University, where the difficult is done today and the impossible takes a bit longer,” concludes Haddock, encapsulating the determined spirit driving the cars program indot.
ASPIRE’s Purdue location is an integral part of LEAPS (Leading Energy-Transition Advances and Pathways to Sustainability), a new Purdue Engineering Initiative. LEAPS is designed to foster energy transition innovations, transform energy-focused education, and accelerate technology translation through academic-industry collaborations, further amplifying the impact of the cars program indot.
The innovations stemming from this research have been disclosed to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization, which has filed patent applications for the intellectual property, paving the way for future commercialization and broader impact of the cars program indot.
About Purdue University
Purdue University stands as a leading public research institution, recognized for its excellence and scale. Consistently ranked among the top 10 public universities and home to two colleges within the top four nationally, Purdue is dedicated to impactful knowledge discovery and dissemination. With over 105,000 students across various modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 on the West Lafayette campus, Purdue remains committed to affordability and accessibility, having frozen tuition for 13 consecutive years. Purdue’s unwavering pursuit of the “next giant leap” is evident in its strategic initiatives, including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes.
