Electreon announced Feb. 1 it will deploy its first public wireless EV charging road system in the U.S. to be installed in Detroit by 2023.
The company won the RFP to build an electric road system in Detroit as part of the inductive vehicle charging pilot program in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. The wireless charging infrastructure project will be hosted by and live within Michigan Central, a mobility innovation district, and supported by Next Energy, Ford Motor Co., DTE, Jacobs Engineering Group, and the City of Detroit.
This news follows Electreon’s official entrance into the U.S. market earlier this month with the opening of the company’s Los Angeles office and addition of Corey Johnson, former speaker of the New York City Council, as a strategic consultant for the New York region.
Stefan Tongur, VP of business development for Electreon in the U.S., said in a news release, “Michigan’s automotive industry roots built a foundation for mobility innovation and we’re thrilled to join this community of experts. We are collaborating with departments of transportation, state and municipal agencies, and automotive and mobility industry innovators. Our technology has the potential to support electric fleets of all types from public transit buses to delivery vans and long-haul trucks for logistics.”
Electreon will lead the design, evaluation, iteration, testing, and implementation of the pilot program, which aims to be operating by 2023. The project is slated for a stretch of road up to 1 mile long in Detroit and will include dynamic and stationary wireless EV charging.
“Hosting the first wireless charging road system in the U.S. as part of the open platform we are providing at Michigan Central will serve as a magnet to attract innovators to test on this nationally significant asset joining in the work with Electreon, Next Energy and many others, and also show people the value electrification can create,” said Carolina Pluszczynski, Michigan Central development director. “We are working with Electreon on sourcing pilot opportunities with such innovators to leverage the open wireless charging system.”
Electreon operates pilots in Germany, Italy and Sweden, and is preparing to execute a recently signed commercial deal to provide a “plug free” charging network for 200 public buses in Tel Aviv, Israel.
