Propulsion Assisting Roads for Driving Range Extension of Electric Vehicles

This paper introduces a new concept of propulsion assisting roads (PARs) for electric vehicles (EVs) which can be considered as an alternative to the dynamic wireless charging technology. While both concepts of PARs and dynamic wireless charging pursue the goal of extending the driving range of EVs and utilize the same principle of energized coils embedded under the surface of the road, the concept of PARs is based on direct conversion of electrical energy into kinematic energy for propelling the vehicle in the fashion of linear electrical motor operation. In this paper, the authors propose a simple and cost-effective implementation of such system based on linear induction motor (LIM) with moving passive secondary mounted underneath the vehicle and compare it with the dynamic wireless charging. A conceptual design of LIM is validated with 2D finite element analysis and simulation results are presented in the paper.