ASPIRE Partners with Central Florida Expressway and Evolgy for Electrified Roadway Pilot

One of the largest transportation agencies in Florida is set to build an electrified roadway, and the ASPIRE Engineering Research Center at Utah State University will help lead the project.

The Central Florida Expressway Authority, known as CFX, announced last year plans to build approximately one mile of electrified roadway on the new State Route 516, which is slated for construction near Orlando.

The new stretch of electrified roadway will provide wireless, dynamic charging capabilities to all vehicle classes, including passenger vehicles and heavy-duty commercial trucks and delivery vans. The charging technology for the project was developed by Norwegian firm Evolgy, formerly IPT Technology.

Electrified roadways bring power to electric vehicles without the need for large, heavy battery packs. Harnessing the power of inductive wireless power transfer, electric vehicles receive a charge as they drive over electric coils embedded in the roadway. Energy flows from the coils to a receiver pad mounted to the underside of the vehicle, providing safe, wireless power even at highway speeds.

The technology can detect when a properly equipped electric vehicle is above the coil, making the roadway safe for all users as well as the surrounding environment.

“ASPIRE is excited to partner on this project with CFX and Evolgy,” said ASPIRE Center Director Regan Zane. “We will use this pilot project to move the industry forward and determine the best practices for installations of electrified roadways in the future.”

ASPIRE is the first National Science Foundation-sponsored Engineering Research Center dedicated to advancing sustainable electrified transportation. Evolgy has more than 25 years of experience in testing and installing wireless charging equipment. The firm operates several pilot projects in Europe with charging power up to 200 kW at over 90 percent efficiency.

"This is a game changer for speeding up the energy transition,” says Richard van den Dool, vice president, sales & business development for Evolgy Charge and Managing Director for IPT Technology GmbH. "Being part of a team with front leaders introducing innovative technologies, pushing change and delivering solutions to benefit the planet, the industry and how we should power electric cars and trucks is thrilling."

About ASPIRE

The ASPIRE Engineering Research Center was launched in September 2020 with a $50 million/10 year grant from the National Science Foundation with its main purpose to support widespread adoption of electric transportation through developing technologies and clearing barriers leading to low cost, ubiquitous charging infrastructure. A key aspect of the ASPIRE research portfolio is dynamic wireless power transfer, a research and development area where USU and its ASPIRE partner universities have led advances for many years. The ASPIRE university partners (Purdue University, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Texas at El Paso, and University of Auckland, New Zealand) are joined by more than 60 industry, government and non-profit members from all sectors of the electric transportation ecosystem. For more information, visit aspire.usu.edu.

About the Central Florida Expressway Authority

The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) is an independent agency of the State of Florida that operates and maintains a regional network of expressways for 3.3 million residents of Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties and more than 75 million annual visitors to Central Florida. CFX’s 125-centerline mile, user-funded system which includes 73 interchanges, 14 mainline toll plazas, 5 mainline gantries, 76 ramp toll plazas and 343 bridges. On average, more than 1.3 million toll transactions are recorded daily, over 95 percent of them electronically. CFX operates E-PASS, the first electronic toll collection system in Florida, with more than one million E-PASS accounts. For more information, visit CFXway.com.

About Evolgy

Evolgy (formerly IPT Technology) boasts more than 25 years of experience in wireless power transfer and induction charging. The company has built its future-oriented technological solutions from its R&D and production centre in the German city of Efringen-Kirchen. It provides wireless charging solutions for public transport in many European cities, including London, Madrid and Berlin and has developed solutions for induction charging of cars and trucks in collaboration with OEM / car brands, visit ipt-technology.com.

In 2022, IPT joined the leading global induction heating specialist EFD Induction to form Evolgy; an international group focused on various applications of induction technology. The Evolgy head office is in Skien, Norway, visit evolgy.com.

Arendals Fossekompani (AFK) is the owner of Evolgy. Arendals Fossekompani (AFK) is a green-tech investment company that owns energy- and technology-related companies which enable the transition to a green economy. AFK operates globally in future-oriented industries, including 3D printing, algo trading, satellite services, battery- and solar technology, software, and digitization. Established in 1896, AFK has been a proud producer of renewable hydropower for more than 100 years. The company is headquartered in Arendal, Norway and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, visit arendalsfossekompani.no