I might have missed it, but another point is the availability of enough copper to build them in the first place.
I wonder what the next crazy idea will be. Solar panels in pools. They refract the light leading to greater solar panel efficiency. Surely there is a few million in that idea.
Meanwhile in Warsaw the public transport already has a convenient and working charging solution:
But yeah… a simple 130 year old device does not sound modern enough!
Proposed solution with capacitive transfer every quarter mile
The thing is that with vehicle fleets used to provide services you usually don’t have to charge them en route. In particular within cities. Their standard mode of operation includes inactivity periods. These are natural spots to do charging. Without employing complicated, proprietary, and expensive technology.
Inductive it will probably be expensive, if it needs litz coils forget about it. Even if you could use some kind of roll to roll process it's going to require quite an intricate structure.
Capacitive though could be done with very regular large structures. Roads are expensive, putting a roll of some shaped aluminium film beneath it isn't going to make it much more expensive. Safety might be an issue, since it will require a couple kV.
The chicken and egg problem is solved if the same system is used for residential charging instead of charging poles.
Tom Scott just tested another option. While I’m not in favor of this specific implementation, the idea offers instant charging and seems to be actually working:
Tom Scott just tested another option. While I’m not in favor of this specific implementation, the idea offers instant charging and seems to be actually working:
Might work well for buses or long haul trucks if they are in operation 24/7.
I would not want that on a car though..
Ha, wireless freakin’ charging roads have an advantage over the pantograph solution! But only if the designers aren’t thinking well.
The system I mentioned above, from Warsaw, failed this winter. Ice on top of the pick-up shoe prevented charging.
The designers thought about winter conditions and added heating elements. But they are on the shoe itself and can only be turned on when charging is already in progres…