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Could the Napster of electric cars eliminate the need for charging stations altogether? A wild new concept uses the strengths of autonomous electric car designs to pair them for sharing a charge on the go.
In IEEE Spectrum, senior editor Philip Ross writes that the idea is like an existing refueling model. \u201cJet fighters can\u2019t carry a huge tank of fuel because it would slow them down,\u201d Ross explains. \u201cInstead they have recourse to air-to-air refueling, using massive tanker planes as their gas stations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineers from the University of Florida have designed the system, which they\u2019ve named Peer to Peer Car Charging (P2C2). They\u2019ve put their preprint (not yet peer reviewed) paper online at ARXIV.
\u201cMany remote regions do not have charging stations, and even if they are present, it can take several hours to recharge the battery,\u201d the team writes. \u201cConversely, [internal combustion engine] vehicle fueling stations are much more prevalent, and re-fueling takes a couple of minutes. These facts have deterred many from moving to EVs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how does this car-to-car charge work? A car with excess energy sets an indicator that it\u2019s receptive to sharing power. Then, a car looking for some juice lines up right behind, using the kind of safe close-driving algorithms that autonomous car technology has enabled. The two cars link up, and charge flows from the higher to the lower electric \u201ctank.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scientists have documented both their cloud-based charge monitoring system and their idea for some number of rolling supercharge stations that can fuel many consumer vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using the Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) open source traffic simulator, the researchers set up matching scenarios with and without their mobile charging system in place. \u201cWe observe promising results with up to 65 [percent] reduction in the number of EV halts with up to 24.4 [percent] reduction in required battery capacity without any extra halts,\u201d they conclude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s a huge change, and again, it could work anywhere there are two or more electric vehicles\u2014or just one electric vehicle and one of the team\u2019s supercharge trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lack of charging infrastructure and \u201crange anxiety\u201d are two of the most cited reasons why U.S. consumers are scared to invest in electric vehicles, a 2019 survey found. But in the same survey, consumers had realistic expectations of how far a mid-pricedlectric vehicle could go on one charge. \u201cIt\u2019s clear the biggest boon to EV adoption will be general education if consumers\u2019 expectations already match the reality of mass-market EVs,\u201d CNET suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n