Honda to test wireless charging for moving EVs on highway

Honda Motor ↗ 2.56% said on Monday it has developed technology that can wirelessly charge electric vehicles, large trucks included, while they are being driven. The company plans to test it on a Japanese highway.reuters

The system was built by Honda's research arm with construction company Taisei and road builder Taisei Rotec. It sends power from charging units buried in the road to vehicles as they pass over them, which could mean fewer stops to recharge. Public road trials are planned for Japan's fiscal year that starts on April 1, 2027, or later. Logistics and large commercial vehicles will go first.automotiveworld+1

How the system works

Each partner supplies part of the system. Honda makes the transmitter units set into the road and the receiver on the vehicle. Taisei provides a fast-responding direct current power supply, and Taisei Rotec developed the methods for embedding the equipment in pavement. Honda says its road units are the first to put the inverter and coil in one housing, fed by DC wiring. That design needs fewer parts and less roadwork, and the units can be milled into roads already in use.automotiveworld

Tests on a Taisei test road in Satte showed that the units and pavement can carry vehicles of about 20 tonnes. A second track in Tamura, to be built from late 2026, will put the system through one million wheel passes at 49 kN each and check for electromagnetic field leakage. Later work will try to confirm outputs of up to 150 kW for heavy trucks and steady charging at speed. The partners also plan to join the Tateyama Project, an East Nippon Expressway trial in Chiba Prefecture, from fiscal 2027.automotiveworld

Cost questions remain

A Honda engineer would not say how the cost compares with a conventional high-speed charging network. The engineer said economic viability still needs to be assessed. Honda has studied charging in motion since 2021 and runs the Honda Charge network in Japan.kelo+2

A crowded Japanese field

Honda is one of several Japanese companies working on the idea. In a 2024 test at Denso's headquarters, a test vehicle drove 500 kilometers over 50 hours without stopping. Its battery level was almost unchanged at the end. Daihen and Kansai Electric Power tested wireless charging on buses at Expo 2025 Osaka. Taisei had already run tests at its Tamura facility. A receiver towed at 60 km/h got an average transmission efficiency of 66%, and a team leader estimated the roads could last about 10 years under heavy highway traffic.japan-forward

> "With wireless charging while driving, a car could theoretically keep running indefinitely," Denso section manager Takuya Osugi said of the technology.japan-forward