Sweden pioneers permanent electrified road to charge EVs on the move
Sweden is set to convert a motorway into a permanent electrified road, allowing electric cars and e-trucks to charge while driving. According to reports from Euronews, the Swedish transport authority Trafikverket has selected the E20 motorway to undergo the conversion.
The Europan motorway connects the country’s three largest cities and runs through logistics hubs between Hallsberg and Örebro. The project is currently in the planning stage, with construction expected to be completed by 2025. It is expected that this will pave the way for a further 3,000 km of electric roads in Sweden by 2035.
The charging method for the E20 has not yet been finalised, with three options currently under consideration: the catenary system, the conductive (ground-based) system, and the inductive system. The catenary system uses overhead wires to provide electricity to a particular bus or tram and can only be used for heavy-duty vehicles. The conductive charging system works for both heavy-duty vehicles and private cars, provided that there is a conduction system such as a rail. The inductive charging system uses special equipment buried underneath the road that sends electricity to a coil in the electric vehicle, which charges the battery.
Jan Pettersson, Director of Strategic Development at Trafikverket, stated that electrification is the way forward for decarbonising the transport sector and that the apparent advantage of electrified roads is that it could lead to longer ranges with smaller batteries. He added that it is a “special challenge” to keep heavy vehicles charged and that using only static charging would result in vehicles carrying huge batteries.
Sweden has already undertaken electrified road pilot projects, such as the world’s first temporary electric road through the Smartroad Gotland pilot project, which began in 2019 and was extended by one year in 2022. It uses technology by ElectReon, a company involved in numerous wireless charging projects. Germany, Italy, Israel, and the UK are also making similar advances in electric road systems. Sweden has partnered with Germany and France to exchange experience through authority and research collaborations on electric road systems (ERS), with plans to expand electric roads by a further 3,000 km by 2045.
Norwegian company ENRX has also recently announced plans to electrify a one-mile section of a four-lane highway near Orlando, Florida.
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