electrified roads could cut heavy-duty vehicle emissions in one country by 1.2 million tonnes by 2030.
by rick richardson
technology this week
as europe attempts to transition away from fossil fuel, sweden is working on the first permanent electric road in the world, which will allow electric cars and trucks to charge while traveling.
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the e20 motorway has been chosen for the project by trafikverket, the swedish transport administration. in particular, it will construct the electric road system (ers) along the 21-kilometer route between hallsberg and rebro, which is part of the route between sweden’s two largest cities, stockholm and gothenburg.
the e-road is now in the procurement and final planning stages, and trafikverket expects to complete and launch it in 2025 or 2026.
how will it work?
which technology trafikverket will employ for the ers is still up in the air. there are now three types:
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- overhead conductive charging: power is supplied from overhead wires to a vehicle by a pantograph in the first method of charging, much like how trams work. however, this technique is only appropriate for large, high-roof cars that can reach the power wires.
- ground-based conductive charging: power is transferred from specialized rails or tracks placed below or on the road during conductive charging. a mechanical stick or arm that touches the rails assists the vehicles in charging.
- ground-based inductive charging: power is transferred between the vehicles and coils buried in the road without contact in the inductive system.
sweden’s bet on electric roads
the challenging electrification of e20 comes after several productive ers pilot projects across the nation. trafikverket has been testing all three road-charging technologies since 2016 in several locations across the nation, including lund, gotland and sandviken.
for good reason, trucks and buses have received most of the attention. according to one study, connecting the nation’s largest cities with electrified roads would cut heavy-duty vehicle emissions by 1.2 million tonnes by 2030.
however, sweden started experimenting with road pricing in 2018 on a 2-kilometer stretch between the arlanda airport near stockholm and a logistics hub in rosenberg.
by 2030, when it plans to outlaw new fossil fuel-powered cars, the government wants to have deployed 2,000 km of ers on public roads. however, it is debatable whether wagering on e-roads is a wise course of action.
on the one hand, electric road infrastructure will make it possible to go farther between stops at charging stations, boosting ev usage and, thus, cutting carbon emissions.
in addition, an e-roads option to home charging would reduce the demand on the grid during peak hours, according to recent research by chalmers university of technology in gothenburg. the team added that combining static and dynamic charging at home can cut battery size by as much as 70 percent.
“this would reduce the need for raw materials for batteries, and an electric car could also become cheaper for the consumer,” said sten karlsson, co-author of the study.
there is a significant counterargument, though: the high investment and maintenance expenses for a developing type of infrastructure may eventually become outdated as battery research picks up speed.
however, the study’s findings show that the risk isn’t that high. according to the researchers, only 25 percent of the country’s and europe’s roadways would need to be electrified for the system to function.
sweden is not the only country creating e-roads; italy, france, germany and the uk are also testing the technology. in fact, europe’s interconnectivity might give an electric road network a winning chance.