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Aspire Center shows Minnesota officials how in‑road wireless chargers and shared infrastructure lower fleet costs
Summary
An NSF‑funded research center described pilot projects that combine megawatt wireless chargers, electrified road segments and system‑level modeling to reduce fleet capital and operating costs while supporting standards and workforce development.
Lede: Mike Mascollier, chief commercial officer at the NSF‑backed Aspire Center, told Minnesota’s working group that combining electrified corridors, shared substations and smart energy management can reduce fleet costs compared with isolated deployments.
Nut graf: Mascollier urged Minnesota to consider system‑level planning rather than fleet‑by‑fleet rollouts. He described commercial pilots (quarter‑mile electrified roadways, megawatt wireless chargers and a three‑lane EVR test track), partner networks and standards testing intended to ensure interoperability and safety.
What Aspire is doing: “So what is Aspire?” Mascollier said, describing the center’s role in transferring university research into commercial deployments. He said Aspire has more than 60 partners and that the center is focused on commercialization, job creation and grid resilience. He described a quarter‑mile electrified roadway near the Utah Inland Port and testing at university facilities and labs.
Cost and system arguments: Mascollier used Antelope Valley Transit Authority as a case study: the agency transitioned toward a fully electric bus fleet and added about 15 high‑power en‑route wireless chargers to reduce the need for larger batteries and lower fleet capital costs. He said that adding wireless chargers to an overnight‑charging strategy can reduce fleet capital expenses and deliver a modeled $25 million savings over 12 years in a described case, with further optimization showing additional savings.
Standards, testing and safety: Mascollier described standards work (co‑chairing an interoperability committee) and simultaneous supplier testing for electromagnetic emissions and interoperability. He said Aspire is conducting EMC/EMF testing and is one of the third parties performing verification to standards that cover both in‑road equipment and onboard vehicle hardware.
Takeaway for Minnesota: Mascollier recommended shared public infrastructure and statewide planning to lower per‑mile costs. Members asked about the Minnesota partner list and whether data and presentations could be shared; Mascollier said he would provide slides and follow‑up modeling for Minnesota.
