According to Semiconductor Today, Infineon Technologies AG is supplying customized silicon carbide power modules to wireless charging firm Electreon. The specific modules are EasyPACK 3B CoolSiC 2000V units, developed to meet Electreon’s needs for its dynamic in-road charging system. This wireless electric road system embeds copper coils in the pavement to charge EVs like buses and trucks as they drive. The partnership has already boosted average power transfer to 200kW, with peaks exceeding 300kW. This performance was confirmed on France’s A10 highway, the world’s first to wirelessly charge vehicles in motion. Electreon has incorporated these Infineon modules into test tracks in the USA, Germany, France, Norway, and several other countries.
The Big Picture Ambition
Look, the concept here is undeniably cool. The idea that a truck could drive down a highway and have its battery passively topped up, eliminating range anxiety and the need for massive, expensive battery packs, is a kind of holy grail for freight and public transit. It makes a ton of sense for fixed, high-utilization routes. Ports, airports, dedicated bus lanes—these are the logical beachheads. And using Infineon’s silicon carbide tech is smart; SiC is more efficient at high power and frequency than traditional silicon, which is crucial when you’re trying to push 300kW through the air and asphalt. For companies integrating advanced power electronics into heavy-duty systems, partnering with a top-tier component supplier is non-negotiable. It’s the kind of reliability you need when your product is literally buried in a road.
The Skeptic’s Corner
But here’s the thing. We’ve heard variations on the “charging roads” dream for over a decade. The engineering and, more critically, the economic challenges are monstrous. Embedding and maintaining copper coils under miles of highway isn’t just a tech problem—it’s a civil engineering and public funding nightmare. Who pays for the installation? Who maintains it? The upfront infrastructure cost is almost unimaginable compared to installing a bunch of silicon carbide-based charging pylons at a depot. And while a 300kW peak sounds impressive, that’s shared across how many vehicles in a lane? The actual energy delivered per vehicle might be far less, especially in traffic.
The Real Hurdle Isn’t Tech
So the Infineon modules probably work great. I don’t doubt the tech demo on the A10 highway. The real test is scaling from a test track to a commercially viable, kilometer-long system that doesn’t cost a fortune to build or repair. Think about road resurfacing, winter salting, and heavy truck wear-and-tear. Now add fragile, precise electrical coils to that mix. It’s a brutal environment. Electreon’s plan for “longer-distance projects” will be the true proving ground. Can they get the cost per mile down to something a government or toll operator would ever greenlight? That’s the billion-dollar question no power module, no matter how advanced, can answer alone.
A Niche Before A Revolution
Basically, I think this is a technology that will find a niche long before it sparks a revolution. Closed-loop systems are the key. Imagine a specific bus route in a city or the endless loops of trucks in a port complex. In those controlled, privately-funded environments, the math starts to make more sense. The vehicles are always on the route, the infrastructure owner reaps the operational benefit, and you can control the maintenance. That’s the likely path. It’s a fascinating and powerful piece of engineering from Infineon and Electreon, but let’s not pretend we’ll be charging our personal EVs on I-95 anytime soon. The road to wireless charging is going to be a very, very long one.
