(WXYZ) — Range anxiety is a real issue among EV drivers and finding a charger or supercharger can sometimes be a scavenger hunt.
Just ask James Marbury, he drives a Tesla for Uber.
"You still have to be mindful of the charge," he said. So day to day it's fun, it's a great handling vehicle, but it still has some kinks that need to be worked out."
But an Israeli-based company called Electreon might have a cure for this so-called range anxiety. The company is creating the first electric road system in the country to charge electric vehicles.
"What we are doing is taking the next step into charging vehicles. So instead of having EV's that stand still and charge like we fuel our cars... you can charge a vehicle more frequently and automatically on the infrastructure," vice president of Business Development for Electreon Stefan Tonger said.
MDOT and Electreon have signed a five-year agreement for this pilot program. The total estimated cost is $1.9 million.
"We're really excited about this project because it really will be the first in the United States of an inductive road charging system," MDOT Spokesperson Rob Morosi said. "And we think this can be revolutionary for the electric vehicle industry and we're excited to get this program going."
Somewhere along Michigan Avenue, they are going to be digging up the road and putting down e-coils underneath the ground that will power electric vehicles.
Three-quarters of a mile will contain e-coils and a section of 14th Street will have charging pads for buses and delivery trucks that need stationary charging.
The e-coils will be under only 4 inches of pavement so the big question now is how will these last during a Michigan winter and with Michigan's pesky potholes?
Tonger says Michigan with its four seasons, is a perfect testing bed in the U.S..
"The reason for that is to allow for maintenance, periodic maintenance of the roads. So you can redo the surface of the road and not hurt the infrastructure and once we install it underneath the road you're actually upgrading the road into a charging asset so that actually incentives you to maintain that road," he said.
Deandre Turner, an Uber driver says why not!
"You might as well put them in the ground to charge the cars. It's perfect you know? It would save people on money. It already saves people on money you know," he said.
