China is testing a “smart highway” that can generate electricity and charge electric cars
14. June 2018In the Chinese city of Jinan, a 1-km-long section of motorway was equipped with solar panels as a road surface. Under transparent concrete and the load of 45,000 vehicles a day are solar cells, which can generate enough power for the lighting of the highway and an additional 800 households. The pilot project was developed and built by the state-owned Qilu Transportation Development Group Co. “So far, roads were just the structure for the cars driving overhead. We’re working on evolving into a kind of intelligent network similar to the human nervous system,” said Zhou Yong, Managing Director. In addition to solar power generation, the intelligent highway can provide better traffic data by sensors and recharge electric vehicles while driving. There are currently no electric vehicles that can be recharged while driving. The city of Jinan is home to well-known vehicle manufacturers such as Geely and Sinotruck. Volvo is part of Geely and the German MAN SE is shareholder of Sinotruck.
The development and construction of the road is part of the “Made in China 2025” plan, a technology offensive by the Chinese government under President Xi Jinping. The 10 supported sectors include alternative drives, information technology and robotics. China also has ambitious plans to expand its own artificial intelligence industry and research centers by 2030 and become world leaders there.
In the area of self-propelled vehicles, Chinese scientists estimate that they will account for 20 percent of 2030 or 30 million similar-technology cars in 2025, with a 10 percent share in 2025. More than half of all electric vehicles produced worldwide are already being sold in China. Thus, in 2015, the USA had been overtaken as the largest sales market. The Chinese government expects to sell 7 million alternative-drive vehicles by 2020.
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