WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA — A new type of pavement, soon to be tested on U.S. 231, could charge electric cars and trucks as they drive over it.

A quarter-mile test bed will be located on the right northbound lane of U.S. 231 between Lindberg Road and Cumberland Avenue in West Lafayette.

The project is the result of a years-long research partnership between the Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University.

The work involves “magnetizable concrete”: Coils beneath the pavement create a magnetic field that wirelessly charges vehicles as they drive.

“The pavements themselves, the materials don’t really change so much,” says Purdue civil engineering professor John Haddock, who is part of the research team. “What we’re doing is embedding the coils in the pavement that supply that charge to your battery as you move down the highway.”

It’s a similar concept to wireless chargers many people use for their cellphones, Haddock says.

“So you take your cellphone, you put it down […]