Scottish electric roads project recruits innovative consultant

The TEV Project, a Scotland-based social enterprise designing the roads of the future for electric transport has appointed a senior consultant to its team to drive the project forward.

Dr David Beeton, managing director of Urban Foresight, a UK based think tank focused on future cities, has joined the project.

Dr Beeton will help to foster collaboration between likeminded stakeholders from universities, government and the private sector to advance the implementation of TEV.

The TEV Project integrates the latest in enabling technologies into new transport infrastructure that consists of an electrically powered road, where electric and hybrid cars can travel for thousands of miles under computer control, while continuously recharging.

Dr Beeton has an impressive track record in developing strategies that allow transport concepts to break into the accelerating electric vehicle (EV) market. Director of E-cosse, the public private partnership to advance EV adoption in Scotland, and leader of the EV4SCC collaboration platform for the European Commission, Dr Beeton is at the forefront of UK EV innovation.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr Beeton said:

“I’m delighted to join TEV at such an exciting period in the project’s lifetime.

“With projections showing there will be more cars built in the next 20 years than have been built ever, issues of sustainability and congestion will need to be focal to government decision making in years to come.

“The car makers are embracing this as they evolve their EV offerings, but there’s still a dis-join in the infrastructure needed to support our future transport needs.

“As vehicle numbers and journeys continue to increase, we desperately need to innovate and address our transport infrastructure needs. To that end, TEV is seeking to engage with the wider transport community to generate ideas, opinions and contributions to make this happen.

“The TEV Project is attractive because it utilises technology available now, to offer a disruptive, radical, innovative solution. With TEV, cars would charge when moving autonomously at high speeds, negating any range issues and also significantly decrease fossil fuel use while cutting accidents.”

UK Project Co-ordinator Caroline Jones Carrick said:

“Dr Beeton has an impressive track record in developing strategies that allow transport concepts to break into the accelerating electric vehicle market.

“By bringing David on board, TEV wants to work in collaboration with others towards a shared vision for the future of roads and highways. If we were starting from scratch, we wouldn’t design a transport system which is locked in the 18th Century.

“From an infrastructure perspective, we know that one mile of new motorway costs on average £30m, according to the Highways Agency, and an elevated road costs roughly 10 times more. In comparison, TEV would cost just over £1 million for the same distance and would guarantee 10 times as much traffic throughput as a single lane on normal traffic.

“Fundamentally, being a parent is my inspiration for working on this project. I want future generations to have transportation that is safer, greener, more efficient and makes the most of the fantastic vehicle technological advances that have been developed in recent years. If we don’t do something now, our children will be forced to live with the consequences.”

Founded in 2012 by US-based inventor Will Jones and his daughter Caroline Jones Carrick, TEV is a network of specially designed highway lanes that provide direct electric power to EVs as they travel under automated control. A sophisticated computer takes over control vehicles as they enter the lane, enabling close convoying and high speeds of travel, reducing congestion and travel times while dramatically cutting the risk of accidents.

The social enterprise has already attracted international attention after it presented its driverless concept to the Exploratory Advanced Research Program, a major US infrastructure event organised by the Department of Transport FHWA in late 2014.

TEV is working on bringing together car manufacturers, planners, engineers and innovators with the aim of developing a coherent strategy to address what we need to do now to accommodate the exponential increase in traffic travelling on the roads of the future.

Elaine McKean

Indigo

27 Maritime Street

Edinburgh EH6 6SE

Tel: 0131 554 1230

Mob: 07866 602 985

Fax: 0131 554 1549

The TEV Project (Tracked Electrical Vehicle) is a non-profit, open source transportation project bringing together universities, governments, companies and individuals to develop future-proof transport infrastructure.

TEV consists of an electrically powered lane, where electric and hybrid cars can travel indefinitely without the need for charging and without using their batteries. 

Electric cars and fleet vehicles will drive on a pre-fabricated, dedicated lane under full automatic control. This will allow passengers to travel safely at high speeds which, in turn, will enable vastly greater passenger carrying capacities compared with traditional motorways.

Developed by open-source as a social enterprise, the TEV Project is the vision of Will Jones, a respected inventor, an expert in battery design and founder of Philadelphia Scientific, a leading provider of products and services for industrial batteries and their infrastructure, operating from North America, Europe, Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific.

Caroline Jones Carrick was born and raised in the USA before moving to the United Kingdom. After more than a decade working in communications for the public sector and construction industry, Caroline co-founded the TEV Project with her father Will.