Electric car charges while driving: the future of e-mobility or another money pit?

Charging an electric car while driving? Sounds ingenious – and it works, too, but it's expensive and complicated. Why the idea still offers hope.

What if you could charge your electric car while driving? No more range anxiety, batteries would be smaller and thus use fewer of the rare earth elements they still require today. Inductive charging for electric cars is no longer rocket science, and various startups are researching the technology's implementation. Will inductive charging while driving revolutionize e-mobility ?

A study conducted in the Bavarian city of Hof, among other places, comes to a differentiated conclusion. Yes, the principle works technically. The energy flow is stable, and the vehicles can – at least theoretically – be powered by significantly smaller batteries.

But the numbers tell a different story: The system's economic viability can only be demonstrated with considerable effort and under favorable conditions. Only when photovoltaic systems and local energy storage systems are integrated into the system do operating costs decrease significantly—by about 20 percent in one scenario. Without these additions, inductive driving is one thing above all: expensive.

Internationally, the race for charging while driving has long been on. For example, the Israeli company Electreon , in partnership with EnBW, has built a test track on the A6 motorway where electric vehicles can be inductively charged while driving. The technological lead is undisputed: The systems work, with an efficiency of around 64 percent—quite impressive for contactless energy transfer. But behind the scenes, the challenges remain significant.

Such a system is complex. The coils must be placed beneath the asphalt with millimeter precision, and each vehicle requires special reception technology that requires precise alignment. Even the smallest deviations—for example, due to lane changes—can massively reduce efficiency. Furthermore, installation is expensive. The Electreon pilot project on the A6 alone is receiving around three million euros in funding—for just one kilometer of test track. Similar amounts are also being estimated for urban systems such as those in Hof or Bad Staffelstein.

And how is the automotive industry reacting? With skepticism. While there have been initial attempts in the past – BMW tested inductive charging for plug-in hybrids, and Bombardier's "Primove" system was trialled on individual bus routes in Mannheim and Braunschweig – there's a lack of major commitment. The development departments of the major OEMs believe the standards are too expensive, too inefficient, and too unclear.

The political framework has also not yet been established. Binding standards are lacking, for example, for detecting foreign objects under asphalt or for exposure to magnetic fields. Billing systems for energy consumption still need to be developed, as does a uniform regulatory framework. Although research institutes such as the Fraunhofer FfE and the French company Vedecom are working on solutions, momentum remains muted.

The technology certainly has potential – especially in public transport. Bus lines with fixed routes, slow speeds, and high frequencies could benefit from inductive systems. There's no time-consuming charging at the depot, no wear and tear from plugs, and no visible charging infrastructure in the cityscape . But it's precisely here that municipal budgets are particularly tight – and the technological effort particularly high.

The bottom line is: Inductive charging is no longer a utopia. The technology is here, it works—and it's getting better with every project. But many hurdles still need to be overcome before it can be deployed on a truly widespread basis. As long as the cost per kilometer is in the millions and the energy losses are significantly higher than those of conventional charging stations, drive-by charging remains one thing above all: a fascinating idea with limited realism. At least for now.