MIE.51 – Semi-truck to EV Dynamic Charging

• Karan Patel
• Ruturaj Rachkar
• Ketul Soni

In the United States, approximately 350 million miles are driven by semi-trucks on each calendar day. This is equivalent to about 50 million gallons of diesel consumed daily. Consequently, seven percent of greenhouse gases are produced by semi-trucks alone in the United States. To combat this, initial attempts to create a hybrid truck began in 2008, but they are still not commercially available over a decade later. Our first task was to understand the needs and requirements to create a viable hybrid semi-truck. We designed this truck to include an assist for the diesel engine with batteries, motors, and regenerative braking. From this alone, there is about thirty percent less diesel burned by each semi-truck in operation. To further combat emissions, the team was assigned to eliminate the largest gripe of light duty electric vehicles: wait times for charging and range anxiety. Therefore, a system for charging an electric vehicle behind the semi-truck on the highway was established. We designed a proof of concept for charging an electric vehicle on the road with magnetic charging, telescoping arms, and modern Li-DAR and camera technology. The research conducted covers the operation, mounting, and safety factors for the ability to charge an electric vehicle on the highway behind an operating semi-truck.