California is about to become home to the nation’s second electric vehicle-charging roadway — with construction due to be completed ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The multimillion dollar UCLA project, funded with state grant moneys, will concentrate on a half-mile stretch of road in Westwood, according to the Los Angeles Times.
And it will come as the university prepares to host the Olympic Village — where all of the competing athletes stay during the games.
“A wireless inductive option is a game changer,” Clinton Bench, director of the UCLA Fleet and Transit, told the Times.
“When a vehicle is driving over [a charger], the vehicle can collect charge while it’s moving.”
Close to $20 million in grant money will be used to upgrade UCLA‘s bus fleet, replacing gas-powered vehicles with electric buses.
The EV-charging roadway will eliminate the need to connect any of the buses to electric charging coils.
Any electric vehicle that utilizes the roadway will be able to pick up a charge, thanks to several underground charging stations.
The buses would pick up charge while driving throughout the day or when parked at a stationary wireless charger.
The coils will be installed beneath Charles E. Young Drive, between the Westwood Plaza intersection and UCLA’s Murphy Hall.
Additional stationary chargers are planned for passenger drop-off and pickup locations and transit depots where UCLA buses make stops.
Last year, Detroit utilized the same technology to become the first city to create a wireless-charging public roadway in the US.
