This would involve reflecting light from outer space onto a generating station on the ground. The generating station would concentrate the sunlight and make electricity using Stirling engines. It would be a solar dish design. There would be enough solar dishes installed so that a generating station could make a gigawatt or so of electricity.
The electricity would be dedicated for the highways. It would be routed to rails embedded in the highway, but the electricity would make an electromagnet. It would form the basis of a generator that a vehicle would carry that would be rotated inside of it to generate the electricity for a vehicle.
Here's a pic snatched from the HowStuffWorks webpage
It isn't shown by this pic the way it would be done, so try to imagine the turning part rotated 90 degrees so that it rolls in the direction of movement. The movement is provided by the moving automobile. What if it isn't moving? Then no electricity is being generated. You need a battery backup for those situations. While the vehicle is moving fast enough, the battery gets recharged while the vehicle moves ahead.
It is made this way so that when it rains, the water can be drained off so as to not create a short circuit.
The rotating part will fit into the rail when requested by the controller on the auto. It will seek the rail and then it will position itself within the rail correctly. When a lane change is desired, the mechanism will be pulled out, which enables the lane change. The battery backup will power the auto until the power is reconnected in the next lane.
The matter of control can be a troublesome issue. Not all lane changes are planned. Emergencies can happen and so forth. The system may need a bit of work.
With the backup battery supplying up to 50 miles or so of driving, an individual could have a lot of freedom to roam about before having to charge up somewhere. Lots of places could be accessed this way.
Update:
An important aspect of this idea may be impractical. Instead of generating electricity on the auto, let the rails be electrified, and safety would be ensured by properly insulating them.
Update:
This will be a new series. Next post here.
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