Americans have no monopoly on clever acronyms. A European project called FABRIC (which, somehow or other, stands for “Feasibility analysis and development of on-road charging solutions for future electric vehicles”) is working on developing dynamic charging, which will allows EVs to charge wirelessly while rolling down the road.

The research initiative has 24 international partners, and it has established three test sites, in France, Italy and Sweden. Qualcomm, working at the French site, has demonstrated a dynamic charging system that can charge an EV at up to 20 kW at highway speeds.

Across the border in Italy, the Polytechnic University of Turin has also built a prototype dynamic charging system. The POLITO Charge While Driving system will be tested on FABRIC’s test circuit in Susa, near Turin, a city rich in automotive history.

The system uses Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) technology, and consists of a fixed transmitter coil, placed underneath the road surface, and a receiver coil installed on the vehicle. The test circuit has 50 transmitting coils, which will send power to a receiver installed on a light commercial vehicle.

Source: Politecnico di Torino