The concept is no different from trains travelling along a charged track. While any real-world implementation is a long way off, the TEV team is building a trial road for a lower estimated cost per mile than traditional highway.
Headed by a father-daughter team from Scotland, the Tracked Electric Vehicle project envisions an electric future without charging stations. Anna Hirtenstein writes, "TEV Project highways would have an electrified metal strip embedded into the middle of the road which provides a constant source of power to the vehicle. Just like streetcars and subway trains do in today's cities, cars on a TEV highway could charge as they drive."
TEV is a nonprofit business that has drawn attention from major infrastructure companies. Its financial estimates are promising. "TEV Project plans to build its first trial road by next year at an estimated cost of $1.2 million to $1.8 million per mile, a price that is less than for a traditional highway."
Of course, EVs currently represent a minuscule portion of the world's automobile fleet. But the TEV project should also be of interest to those of us who imagine fleets of electric self-drivers ferrying people through the city.
FULL STORY: Here's One Answer to Electric Cars' Lack of Range: Electric Road
The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall
The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.
The Paradox of American Housing
How the tension between housing as an asset and as an essential good keeps the supply inadequate and costs high.
Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities
The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.
Undoing Biden's EV Rule
The partisan divide over how government should reduce greenhouse gas emissions was on full display after the Biden administration finalized its emissions standards rule for light and medium duty vehicles on March 20.
Boston Moves Zoning Reform Forward
The ‘Squares + Streets’ plan creates form-based zoning templates for neighborhoods that promote mixed use and denser housing near transit.
Anchorage Leaders Debate Zoning Reform Plan
Last year, the city produced the fewest new housing units in a decade.
City of Yakima
City of Auburn
Baylands Development Inc.
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.