Car Vrum

Have you ever played F-Zero on the Super Nintendo? Then you know that after start/finish you have to fly over a luminous strip to charge your turbo boost. The Stellantis ‘Arena del Futuro’ doesn’t give off any light, but it does work in an F-Zero way. You drive over it and charge the battery of your electric car. Ideal for people with plug fears.

Charging a Fiat 500e via under-road coils

Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT) is the name of the technology tucked under the asphalt of this Italian circuit. Simply put, it works like this: there are coils under the road surface, which in this case transfer their energy to a receiver in a Fiat 500e. As long as the compact hatchback is driving on the track, its electric motor receives power directly from the road surface and the battery is therefore not used.

Driver never has to stop to load again

According to Stellantis – Fiat’s parent company – the DWPT system will power the 500e with the efficiency of a fast charging station. So the driver of the car never has to stop to recharge, as long as he is driving on a DWPT road. Technicians from Stellantis have carried out measurements: the coils under the asphalt create a light magnetic field, which has no harmful consequences for the people in the car.

Electric cars can become a lot lighter

Stellantis lists a few advantages of DWPT. The system reduces losses in the energy distribution chain, can be linked directly to green electricity sources and makes electric cars lighter and simpler. If they can be charged via the roads they drive on, fewer large batteries are needed. A disadvantage of DWPT is that it has to be built into new and existing roads. An absolute monster job.