At the “Crossroads of America,” Purdue University engineers and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) for electric vehicles ranging from tractor-trailers to passenger cars to wirelessly charge while driving on highways.
Construction is in progress on a quarter-mile test bed on U.S. Highway 231/U.S. Highway 52 in West Lafayette that the team will use for testing how well a patent-pending system designed by Purdue engineers can provide power to a heavy-duty electric truck traveling at highway speeds.
“Thanks once again to some engineers and pioneers from Purdue, we’re developing the world’s first highway test bed for wireless charging,” , a United Nations environmental conference that took place in Egypt in 2022. “Please remember that one. Yes, we will be testing whether concrete can charge passing trucks — and don’t bet against a Purdue Boilermaker.”
, which began April 1, is expected to continue through the fall. An electric truck provided by Indiana-based company Cummins Inc. will drive over the test bed as part of a pilot program planned to start next year. The hope is to electrify a section of an Indiana interstate in the next four to five years.