Highway With Built-in EV Charger, to be Constructed in Central Florida

The Central Florida Expressway Authority reportedly intends to construct an expressway in Central Florida with special design features that will enable electric vehicle owners to charge their cars while on the road.

Dubbed State Road 516, the highway will connect Orange and Lake counties. A half-mile route will have an electrified charging element installed.

Tester cars will have a unique receptor installed that detects when they pass over an electric road and charges the vehicle. Construction on the project's first phase was unanimously approved by CFX's governing board on Thursday, as reported by sources.

It is reported that the entire building cost of State Road 516 will be $534 million. CFX will reportedly start a pilot initiative called the dynamic charging road in collaboration with ASPIRE and ENRX. The work is expected to start in the spring of next year, and the expressway is expected to be completed in 2027.

Central California's highway project comes as EV charging in the United States continues to be a steady push. According to sources, approximately one EV charging station is now available for every 15 traditional gas stations.

EV Charging Stations in the US

In the first three months of this year, the US added about 600 fast-charging stations for electric vehicles, a 7.6% increase from the end of 2023.

There are about 8,200 fast EV charging stations in the country, and Tesla owns slightly more than 25% of them, according to sources.

Even though diverse networks, competing standards, and charging speeds make EV charging a little more complicated than filling up at a gas station, attempts are being made to simplify and expedite the process.

According to Chris Ahn, head of electrification consulting at Deloitte, the demand for electric vehicles has decreased, but it hasn't stopped. He pointed out that there are fewer places with poor charging infrastructure because many of the location-related problems from before have been fixed.

The Biden administration's National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, a $5 billion endeavor to fill in the remaining holes in the charging network, contributed to the first quarter's spike in infrastructure development.

Thanks to federal financing, new fast-charging stations have been turned on. They include the ones outside the Hannaford Supermarket in Rockland, Maine, and the Kahului Park & Ride on Maui.

When states start to use the funding provided by the Biden administration, American drivers may expect to see many new charging station installations. Commercial forces are currently driving the expansion of charging stations.

Businesses that run charging networks are seeing a rise in demand for their services as the number of electric vehicles on the road rises. The increased usage encourages these businesses to grow their infrastructure and get closer to turning a profit.

Retailers' Push on EV Charging

Retailers are adding to the boom in charging stations by increasing the number of places where drivers in the US may recharge their electric vehicles while enjoying a breakfast burrito or a White Claw. Ten chargers were placed at Buc-Ee's convenience stores and nine more at Wawa outlets during the first quarter.

As a result of these expenditures, the US public EV charging network is rapidly growing outside of coastal areas. For example, sixteen new fast-charging stations were activated in Indiana from January to April.