London, England – The British Environmental Transport Association (ETA) has announced a new road surface technology that generates electricity as traffic drives over it, and which could one day become a source of cheap power.

Developed by engineers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the road contains tiny piezoelectric crystals that produce electricity when squeezed, and which generate a small electrical charge when a vehicle passes over them. The engineers claimed that they can produce up to 400 kilowatts from a one-kilometre stretch of dual roadway, which is enough per hour to run eight Ford Fiestas.

The engineers said that if the system was installed on every stretch of British motorway, it would generate enough energy to run 34,500 small cars.

“The government predicts a massive shift to electric cars, and it may be that roads themselves will provide some of the new fuel,” said Andrew Davis, director at the ETA. “Certain vehicles could be powered entirely by the roads on which they drive. If these electric roads can be put into place without harm to the environment, they would be a silver lining to the problem of heavy traffic.”

The road will be tested with vehicles in Israel next month.