Since the spring of 2025, thousands of motorists have been driving there without knowing it, they are taking the first portion ofelectric highway in the world. About forty kilometers west of Paris, on the A10 at Angervilliers (Essonne) for 1.5 km, 900 copper coils were integrated about ten centimeters below the roadway. Powered by an electrical device installed at the side of the road, they transmit by induction the energy needed to recharge vehicles equipped with receivers.
This experiment, called “Charge as you drive”marks a world first. Led by VINCI Autoroutesin partnership with Electreon, VINCI Construction, Gustave Eiffel University And Hutchisonwith the support from Bpifranceit aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a dynamic recharge on the highway and to pave the way for future Electric Road Systems (ERS) Europeans.
A technological feat on the open road
The four prototypes entered, one heavyweightA busA utility and one electric car (Toyota BZ4X adapted by Electreon), are testing the technical viability of the device. The powers transferred reach 300 kW instantly And 200 kW on averagewith a 85% efficiency. For a heavy goods vehicle, each kilometer traveled allows gain a kilometer of autonomyand until three kilometers for a light vehicle.
The tests were carried out in real traffic conditionsa world first which concludes two years of experiments after mechanical tests, intensive traffic simulations and wear analyzes carried out by the laboratories of Gustave Eiffel University. The latter confirmed the absence of premature wear after more than a million cycles, guaranteeing durability estimated at 25 years.
A decarbonization lever for heavy transport
Road transport represents 95% of mobility in France and almost a third of greenhouse gas emissions. THE heavy goods vehicleswhich only count for 15% of trafficconcentrate 45% of emissions. By targeting this category, VINCI Autoroutes and its partners are testing a solution capable of reduce the size, cost and carbon footprint of batterieswhile eliminating downtime for recharging.
According to a study conducted by Carbon 4this approach could significantly reduce CO₂ emissions transport of goods, while reducing European dependence on critical metals such as lithium and cobalt. Ultimately, dynamic charging could become a structuring complement to fixed terminalsby streamlining logistics flows on major European routes.
Economic and technical limits still open
The installation cost, estimated at 4 million euros per kilometerraises the question of economic viability. The electrification of 9,000 km of French motorways would represent an investment of approximately 36 billion euros. VINCI Autoroutes discusses a depreciation model on 30 yearsbased on the extension of concessions And resale of electricity to users, but no public or pricing framework has yet been defined.
On a technical level, several variables remain to be measured: stability of the electromagnetic field, thermal resistance coils under heavy traffic, or even energy efficiency in degraded conditions (rain, lateral shift of the vehicle). Actual effectiveness could vary significantly depending on traffic density or weather.
A balance to be found between innovation and sustainability
If the system promises cleaner mobility, its construction is energy intensive : copper, civil engineering works, continuous power supply to the network. The carbon footprint will depend on the origin of the electricity injected and the energy mix retained for its diet. Without carbon-free electricity, the electric road could shift the carbon footprint rather than reduce it.
At this point, “Charge as you drive” remains a technological demonstration, scientifically sound, but still far from a reproducible industrial model. European projections of electrified corridors (TEN-T) will require a standardization and one interoperability that France will have to reconcile with the German (catenary) and Swedish (conductor rails) initiatives.
A European industrial ambition
The French consortium sees this experiment as the first step in a European electric road sector. The components can be produced in Europereinforcing the energy sovereignty and the creation of industrial jobs. Maintenance operations are aligned with road maintenance cycles: the coils, of 20 year lifespancan be replaced when renewal of the coating every 8 to 10 years.
The partners now plan to extend the experiment over a section Saint-Arnoult – Orléansa major axis of heavy goods vehicle traffic, in order to validate the reproducibility of the system on a larger scale.
An electric road, or a rolling laboratory?
With “Charge as you drive”, France establishes itself as a pioneer of a technology likely to develop electric mobility. But between industrial promise and economic balance, the electric road remains a life-size laboratorywhose future will depend on three key variables:
- there ability to pool public and private investments,
- there European standardization of ERS systems,
- and the guarantee of low-carbon power.
VINCI Autoroutes opens a technological gap which questions the very way of conceiving road infrastructure, no longer as a simple support, but as a moving energy source.
