Electric car, sans the battery

A Japanese university has revealed an electric car with something normally crucial missing – the battery.

Toyohashi University of Technology and Taisei Corp unveiled on Friday the first electric car that can run without a battery, receiving its charge from an electrified road.

The small ‘car’ was demonstrated at the Aichi-Province university with a drive along a section of special road. Electricity is passed from steel rails in the road through the steel wire in the cars tyres.

The drive lasted for 30 meters at a speed of 10km/h, and, according to Professor Takashi Ohira, as cited by Kyodo: “Acceleration was smooth, and the ride was comfortable.”

The upside for such technology – the car never needs to be charged. The downside, it can only drive on the special roads.

However, Ohira says it’s not a matter of changing entire roads, rather fitting existing ones with the new technology, meaning they can charge and run on equiped roads, run in battery mode on others.