Korean researchers have devised a new approach to electric cars. Instead of placing large rechargeable batteries in the cars, electric strips would be placed in the roads that keep cars charged on the fly.

In the experimental technique, 8 by 35 inch strips would be built directly into the top of the roads. The vehicles would have special magnetic devices on their undersides that would extract energy from the strips as the cars drive by.

Cho Dong-ho who is manager of the plan said "If we place these strips on about 10 percent of roadways in a city, we could power electric vehicles."

The researchers have already built a working prototype of the system using a golf cart but are already working on developing cars and buses.

The system is using a technique called inductive charging allowing the use of magnetic fields to charge batteries wirelessly. So in fact vehicles would still retain very small batteries that are continuously charged as the vehicle ride by the strips.

The strips would be connected to electric powerstations at regular interval, and the cost of the system is roughly $318,000 per kilometer of road.

Source (Reuters)