Practical test of inductive charging

31.10.2025

Source: E & M powernews

Inductive charging can fundamentally change e-mobility. This is the opinion of the partners of a project in Amberg, Bavaria, which has now entered practical testing.

The test track for inductive charging has been set up on the A6 highway near Amberg in Bavaria. Under the scientific supervision of the Chair of Factory Automation and Production Systems (FAPS) at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the practical testing phase has now begun as part of the "E/MPOWER" project.

"The technology has the potential to overcome range anxiety, while at the same time reducing the need for battery imports and strengthening regional value creation in electromobility," explains Professor Florian Risch from FAU. Inductive charging could fundamentally change e-mobility, as smaller batteries can be used, resulting in lower weight, lower resource consumption and reduced costs, according to a statement from the university.

According to an earlier announcement from the university, the partners, which also include the federal government's Autobahn GmbH, want to research how the electrification of heavy goods traffic can be technically and economically integrated in this way. Professor Risch is also researching how efficient the system actually is and how induction coils can be efficiently manufactured and automatically installed in the road.

Section is 1 kilometer long

The technology used is based on the Electric Road System (ERS) from the Israeli company Electreon. Copper coils are installed under the road surface, which generate a magnetic field as soon as vehicles equipped with corresponding receiver coils drive over them. This allows them to absorb energy while driving. In principle, both cars and trucks can be used for this purpose.

The technology is designed to interact exclusively with appropriately equipped vehicles. In the equipped vehicles, appropriate shielding ensures that
international safety standards for magnetic fields are met. For everyone else, the route remains passive - "a normal stretch of highway", as the FAU states in a press release.

The energy flow can also be intelligently controlled via a digital platform so that charging times and quantities can be adjusted as required in order to avoid peak loads and use the available energy efficiently. In this way, the system supports optimized fleet management and contributes to the stability of the power grid.

The length of the test track of 1 kilometer is not enough to fully charge a vehicle battery. However, Alexander Kühl, Academic Director at the Chair, explained at the start of the project in 2023 that a charging capacity of up to 70 kW had been transmitted in comparable tests.

In the long term, the technology will also be used on longer stretches of highway and in urban areas. According to the project partners, it could also play a role in combination with other alternative drive systems in the future - as a component of an intelligent, climate-friendly transport infrastructure.
The Empower project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWE) as part of the "Elektro-Mobil" program and supported by Autobahn GmbH des Bundes.

Author: Fritz Wilhelm