{"id":3997,"date":"2023-06-24T13:11:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-24T13:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/?post_type=report&p=3343"},"modified":"2023-08-15T10:31:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T10:31:50","slug":"promising-solutions-for-sustainable-transportation","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/article\/promising-solutions-for-sustainable-transportation\/","title":{"rendered":"Promising Solutions for Sustainable Transportation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Road transportation is one of the central contributing factors to the climate crisis. This fact makes the transition of the pollutive auto industry to clean and smart transportation solutions especially critical. Despite the great importance of the transition to sustainable transportation, one glance at the vehicles travelling Israel’s roads in 2022 is sufficient to understand that the electric vehicle revolution has not yet taken place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electreon Wireless<\/strong> is a public company that was founded in 2013 which develops equipment to wirelessly charge electric motor vehicles. Barak Duani<\/strong>, the company’s CTO, lists some of the obstacles that are presently hindering the global transition to green transportation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first complexity he mentions is the size of the battery required to operate electric vehicles. Unlike a vehicle that runs on gasoline or diesel, in an electric vehicle, we take the energy with us, reducing the flexibility of recharging during the journey which is, by nature, both complex and time-consuming. This limitation causes a Range Anxiety that expresses drivers’ concerns that the vehicle’s energy won’t be enough to reach the desired destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact that electric vehicles are generally limited in their range of travel leads many to refrain from using them \u2013 both as private and commercial vehicles (trucks, buses etc.). Furthermore, large batteries, of the type needed in large vehicles are also extremely pollutive. Studies show that at least 5 years of travel are needed to justify using an electric vehicle from an environmental perspective, during which the emissions are offset by use of the application\/solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second complexity according to Duani is related to infrastructure and is, somewhat ironically, expected to occur specifically when electric vehicles are widely adopted, namely, the limited capacity to produce electricity. “Imagine a situation where 400-500 thousand electric vehicles need to charge overnight in Tel Aviv”, Dunai explains. “This will require an extremely high level of energy to be supplied during a relatively short period for which, as of today, the electricity grid is simply insufficient”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The solution offered by Electreon includes a substantive response to these two problems: “We enable a smaller battery while, at the same time, enhancing the vehicle’s effectiveness”, Duani claims. The advantage is that electricity, unlike gasoline, can be delivered wirelessly. Electreon utilizes this advantage and transfers the energy via the only existing shared infrastructure \u2013 the road. This means that electric vehicles using this road are actually driving on an infrastructure that is constantly charging the vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the fields of electric charging is an area called ERS (Electric Road Systems) \u2013 a dynamic charging infrastructure that is not necessarily wireless, but that can also be wired. Some companies create a charging solution that works with direct contact. Dynamic charging is divided into three types of technology: overhead charging \u2013 such as trains; charging via a track laid on the ground, and wireless charging \u2013 as offered by Electreon. The issue of wireless charging infrastructure can also be divided into several categories: static charging \u2013 when the vehicle is charged while it is parked; dynamic charging \u2013 during the journey; and a semi-dynamic (hybrid) wireless charging infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electreon’s dynamic charging system combines both static and semi-dynamic charging, in other words, wireless instead of wired charging. This means lower maintenance and setup costs because there is no need for a separate infrastructure for each vehicle. The infrastructure itself is underground and does not hinder the flow of traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company’s vision and strategy are characterized by dynamic deployment that enables greater adoption of electric vehicles by reducing the battery size, the negation of range anxiety, and a lowering of each new car’s level of emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electreon’s solution raises a complex question as to who will finance the infrastructure and how the transition to electric will be implemented. According to Duani, the process in the world of motor vehicles will be similar to that which occurred over several decades in the telecommunications world \u2013 and it will take several years until the shared infrastructure is deployed around the world. And who will pay for it? “Once the initial ecosystem based on deploying static and semi-static charging infrastructures has been created and the first users take to the road, the transition process to a dynamic infrastructure will be economic and there will be entities willing to pay for it on the basis of solutions such as a toll road or payment to the state”, Duani claims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n