Honda Moves Wireless EV Charging From Lab to Live Roads

Honda is pushing wireless EV charging out of the laboratory and onto real asphalt. Working alongside construction giant Taisei Corporation and pavement specialist Taisei Rotec, the automaker’s research arm has finished developing the core technology for a roadway that charges electric vehicles while they drive — a concept known as dynamic or in-motion charging.

The partners intend to take the concept onto public roads during Japan’s fiscal 2027, which begins on 1 April 2027. Logistics fleets and large commercial vehicles will be the first to test the system, reflecting the fact that heavy trucks with big battery packs stand to gain the most from topping up as they travel rather than pulling over for long charging sessions.

Each company contributes a distinct piece of the puzzle. Honda provides the transmitter units that sit recessed in the pavement as well as the receiver mounted on the vehicle. Taisei supplies a direct current power supply designed to respond quickly to demand, while Taisei Rotec handles the methods for embedding the hardware securely into the road surface.

According to Honda, its road-side units are the first to combine the inverter and the coil inside a single housing fed by DC wiring. That architecture reduces the number of components and the amount of roadwork required, and — crucially — allows the units to be milled into roads that are already carrying traffic. That retrofit capability matters enormously if the idea is ever to scale beyond controlled test sites.

Durability has been a central question. Trials at a Taisei test road in Satte demonstrated that the embedded units and surrounding pavement can bear vehicles weighing around 20 tonnes. A second test track in Tamura, construction of which began in late 2026, will subject the system to one million wheel passes at 49 kN each while also monitoring for electromagnetic field leakage — an obvious safety concern for any technology that blankets a roadway with power.

Further work is planned to verify output levels as high as 150 kW for heavy trucks and to confirm that charging remains stable while vehicles are in motion. From fiscal 2027, the partners will also take part in the Tateyama Project, an East Nippon Expressway trial in Chiba Prefecture.

Honda has been researching in-motion charging since 2021 and operates the Honda Charge network in its home market. The strategic goal is straightforward: reduce how often electric vehicles must stop to recharge, with freight and logistics identified as the earliest practical use case. The broader implication is that dynamic charging could eventually shrink the battery capacity — and therefore the cost and weight — that long-haul electric trucks need to carry.