General design requirements and analysis of roadbed inductive power transfer system for dynamic electric vehicle charging

This paper presents general design requirements and analysis of roadbed inductive power transfer systems for charging electric vehicles as they drive. Three different generic roadbed geometries, based on a long wire loop, sectioned wire loops, and spaced loops, are presented and investigated. The coupling between the track coil and the pickup coil is calculated with Maxwell 3D finite element analyses and evaluated with direct field studies. The results suggest that spaced loops improve the coupling coefficient and overall system efficiency. Five different case studies considering different vehicle speeds, power levels and traffic loads for each roadbed geometry are conducted. Power ratings and other operating values are compared.