This street in LA will be the first in California to wirelessly charge EVs
In a few years, new tech will be hidden under a street on the UCLA campus: When one of the university’s electric buses drives down the road, chargers embedded under the asphalt will wirelessly send it power. The same thing will happen at certain bus stops.
It’s the latest test of technology that’s still at an early stage. In Detroit, a short stretch of a road near downtown started piloting wireless charging tech last year. In Indiana, another pilot installed this year will soon begin testing high-speed EV charging on a highway. The project at UCLA will the first in California.
As a research institution, UCLA is “committed to being a proving ground for new technologies,” says Clinton Bench, director of UCLA Fleet and Transit. The university is partnering with Electreon, a wireless charging company, and the nonprofit Calstart, with funding from the state. As part of the project, the school is also shifting its whole fleet of buses to electric.
News coverage also in: Los Angeles Times, Sustainable Bus, New York Post, The Moment, Metro Magazine, SJV Sun, MENA FM, Charged Fleet, Electrek, GovTech, and Informed Infrastructure.