An electric Tri-State? Illinois Tollway looks at embedding charging equipment in parts of I-294

The Chicago Tribune ^ | September 26, 2018 | Mary Wisniewski

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The Illinois Tollway is examining the possibility of embedding equipment into I-294 that would charge electric vehicles as they drive along the road.

The agency is at the start of a $4 billion project to rebuild and widen a 22-mile stretch of I-294, also known as the Tri-State. As part of the project, the Tollway wants to add infrastructure to charge electric vehicles.

Off the highway, that could include both conventional charging stations and “super-charger” stations that power up electric cars and trucks more quickly. The agency also is studying “smart-powered lanes,” a type of technology being tried in Sweden and considered in other parts of the United States.

These lanes would have charging technology buried under the pavement, said Kevin Artl, the Tollway’s chief operating officer. Power from the road would be transferred to a receiver on the bottom of the frames of electric vehicles and would wirelessly charge vehicles as they drive past at full-speed.

Such receivers are currently add-ons for electric vehicles, but they could become standard in the industry, Tollway officials said.

The Tollway Board will be briefed on the concept at its monthly meeting on Thursday. Artl said the Tollway is examining what the demand might be for the in-road charging technology, and should know how to proceed in about two years. Construction on the portion of the Tri-State stretching from Balmoral Avenue near O'Hare International Airport to 95th Street in Bridgeview should be complete in 2026. The research is part of the cost of the whole Tollway project, he said.

Artl said demand for electric passenger cars, trucks and buses is growing, and the Tollway wants to be ready for it.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

This would cost how much? And who do they intend to pay for it,a plan that only benefits a few electric vehicles?

They will "ask" "the rich" to "contribute" a fair amount.

[Taxman]

and, the poor suffering Ill-a-noise taxpayers will pay for EV recharging stations?

I gather “FRee stuff” now includes recharging EV batteries?

Can you spell “SCAM?” “RIPOFF?” “STATE SPONSORED THEFT?”

If you live in Ill-a-noise, now might be a good time to leave!

[a fool in paradise]

Segregated traffic lanes. Just like Islamists have.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Actually, I suspect that the toll payers driving non-EV vehicles will be the ones paying the subsidies.

[yuleeyahoo]

[Taxman]

Right! Poor suffering toll-payers!

Same difference!

[blueplum]

by the time you add in the cost of the build-out and the maintenance costs - passed on to the public of course, and the cost of the actual charge (it won’t be free), plus the cost of the receiver on the vehicle and the batteries, how would this not be more expensive than fossil fuel?

[sphinx]

I have no sense of the cost and efficiency factors of this technology. It may be ripe for a proof of concept -- though I'd prefer that Al Gore pay for it -- but there's an obvious chicken and egg issue. To be practicable, one would need a fairly extensive network, not just a few showcase roads. Such a network would take many years to build out. In the meantime, the range limitations of electric vehicles would remain.

The anti-gasoline lobby seems to me to have overcommitted to electrics. The fact that major automakers are putting down big bucks is suggestive, but that may be in large part a response to political factors. Fracking reshuffled the deck, but my layman's sense is that the full range of post-oil alternatives should remain in play.

[umgud]

Yeah baby!