In the next few years, the University of California Los Angeles will introduce something that was never seen, by having technology hidden under a street. UCLA campus says it will have its electric buses wirelessly connect to embedded chargers. The university says electric chargers will be under the tarred road, asphalt.
UCLA to have a futuristic street for EV buses
According to the university’s publication, UCLA Transportation, the new technology will be hidden under a street on the UCLA campus. This facility will allow, when one of the university’s electric buses drives down the road, the chargers will be embedded under the asphalt to automatically release power without cables.
In a statement, the varsity said the same thing will happen at certain bus stops. This is regarded as the latest test of technology that’s still at an early stage.
In Detroit, a short stretch of a road near downtown has already begun a pilot project using wireless charging technology in 2023. In 2024, Indiana followed by launching another pilot project.
For UCLA, this first-ever project will be rolled out in California, as a research institution, the institution is “committed to being a proving ground for new technologies,” that is according to the director of UCLA Fleet and Transit, Clinton Bench.
Partnering with Electreon, a wireless charging company, and the nonprofit Calstart coupled with funding from the state, the school is also shifting its whole fleet of buses to electric.
How will this hidden technology help
Vice president of business development for Electreon Stefan Tongur added that this facility will help in so many ways.
He said this as Bench previously stated, “The fleet keeps growing, adding more charging infrastructure in one place is challenging because of the power demand.”
Tongur echoed Bench’s sentiments, saying right now, the university’s electric buses charge when they’re parked at night but because their fleet is growing, they needed to introduce a new way of doing things.
Despite a slow start, this type of system could be especially useful on highways, so vehicles like trucks can travel long distances without having to stop and wait to charge.
“Today, many agencies struggle in replacing diesel buses – they need to have 1.5 or even two times as many electric buses compared to diesel because of the range limitations and need to charge them,” says Tongur.
“The amount of space you need to deploy fast chargers and megawatt chargers is tremendous. Communities don’t like that, because it’s just space for vehicles and added congestion and traffic.
“With wireless charging, you can limit the physical footprint, because everything is underground and you don’t have any mechanical connection.”
The cost of this futuristic street in UCLA
According to the UCLA Fleet and Transit director, the installation of this facility or what they call inductive charging can be cost-competitive with standard EV chargers.
In addition, Bench says, though the first pilot installations cost more adding that the basic process is fairly simple: “When a road is due for resurfacing and the top layer is removed, thin charging coils can be added and connected to electricity.”
While there are no figures attached to the project as things stand, it is reported that the final design may be around three-quarters of a mile long, with clusters of charging coils at certain locations along the road.
In this case, this project is expected to demand a lesser amount compared to building chargers that are used much less often.
“It could be buses, but it could also be trucks, or it could also be carshare or vans. So suddenly, with the same infrastructure investment, you can now basically get a charging platform,” said Tongur.
In conclusion, the varsity said the planning phase is due to be completed before LA hosts the 2028 Olympics when UCLA will host the Athletes’ Village.