World's First Wireless Charging Highway Opens in Shandong

The Shandong Provincial Department of Transportation announced on January 4 that a 108-kilometer section of the Jinan-Qingdao Expressway has completed wireless charging transformation and officially opened to traffic. This is the world's first dynamic wireless charging highway section exceeding 100 kilometers.

The highway section embeds electromagnetic induction coils beneath the driving lanes. When equipped electric vehicles pass overhead, they can charge in real-time through electromagnetic induction principles. Test data shows electric vehicles traveling at 120km/h on this section achieve approximately 40% range extension.

Project technical lead Professor Huang Xueliang from Southeast University's School of Electrical Engineering explained that the system's charging power reaches 50kW with transmission efficiency of approximately 88%. "While not as efficient as static charging, dynamic charging's significance lies in utilizing driving time to replenish energy, fundamentally addressing range anxiety."

The section's renovation cost was approximately 8 million yuan per kilometer, jointly invested by the Shandong provincial government and State Grid. Currently only electric vehicles equipped with specific receiver modules can use the system, with six models from BYD, NIO, and other brands already compatible.

Shandong plans to expand wireless charging highways across the province's major expressway network to over 1,000 kilometers by end of 2029.