1,200 miles: Israeli startup Electreon sets record for longest drive by electric car

Israeli startup Electreon said on May 26 it had broken a world record for the longest distance covered by an electric vehicle without stopping.

The 1,942.56-kilometer (1,207-mile) journey took over 100 hours and involved a relay of 55 drivers, The Times of Israel reports.

Founded in 2013, Electreon has been developing a system to charge electric vehicles while in full motion using copper coils laid beneath the asphalt to transfer energy from the electricity grid to the road and to manage communication with approaching vehicles. 

Receivers are installed on the floor of the vehicles to transmit the energy directly to the engine and the battery while the vehicles are on the go, doing away with concerns about limited driving range and short battery lifespans.

Based in the northern Israeli community of Beit Yannai, the startup has a number of running partnerships in Europe to pilot its smart road tech in Sweden, Germany, France and Belgium.

In December, Electreon announced that its technology will be deployed in the first-ever public wireless road project in Germany to power a public electric bus in a deal worth €3.2 million ($3.4 million).

Electreon also has a running partnership with the city of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, including large-scale commercial deployment of its wireless charging infrastructure to power electric buses in Tel Aviv together with the Dan Bus Company.