Electric roads are coming

September 28, 2021

Germany and Sweden are world leaders when it comes to real-world electric road studies. On Gotland, Sweden’s largest island, the world’s first wireless e-road has already been completed.

Electric roads are one of the tools in the race to decarbonise heavy commercial vehicle traffic and – within a few years – the first commercial electric road could be a reality.

Today, the proportion of electric vehicles is rapidly increasing and charging networks such as Vattenfall InCharge are being expanded at an ever-faster pace. (100% owned by the government of Sweden, Vattenfall is one of Europe’s largest producers and retailers of electricity and heating.)

When it comes to long haulage heavy transport, it may not be enough to charge the batteries in charging stations along the road. Instead, segments of the roads could be electrified so that vehicles can be charged while moving. This way, the size of batteries can be decreased, which saves weight.

“Fixed charging points will probably be used for local or regional transport. But for long haulage trucks, which in Sweden can weigh up to 60 tonnes, or in some cases even 90 tonnes, electric road systems can be a key application,” says Colin Stewart, e-mobility specialist at Vattenfall Research & Development.

Wireless transmission

One of the ways of powering e-trucks is via wireless charging. Outside Visby on Gotland, the installation of the world’s first wireless electric road was completed in December 2020, where 1,5-metre-long copper coils were installed under the asphalt on a public road between the airport and the city centre. With the help of corresponding coils in the vehicle, the electric power is transmitted via so-called induction, a proven technology that is common in, for example, electric toothbrush chargers and also used in modern stoves.

In Germany, a similar wireless electric road is also being built for a bus line in the city of Karlsruhe.

First in the world

It is in Sweden and Germany that most projects on public roads are being carried out. In 2017, the countries entered an innovation partnership, with electric roads as one of the areas of cooperation. Today, France is also part of this partnership.

Back in 2016, the world’s first electric public road was inaugurated in Sweden, on a stretch of the E16 motorway between Gävle and Sandviken. The e-road used an overhead line and the trucks were equipped with pantographs, similar to a tram.

The same technology is used today in several successful projects in Germany, including one near Frankfurt Am Main. On a 60-km motorway stretch, a 5-km segment has been equipped with an overhead line that charges the trucks while driving, and thus saves large amounts of fossil fuel. A number of logistics companies are participating, using electric trucks from Scania.

80% of German trucks could be e-powered

A total of about 15 km of electric roads with overhead lines have been built in Germany. These may not be long distances, but estimates show that, by electrifying a third of the German motorways, as much as 80% of the country’s heavy road transport fleet could be electrically powered.

Rail in roads

A third technology to power the roads is to install an electric rail in the roadway, much like a slot car track. Near Arlanda airport in Stockholm, Vattenfall has supported a project called eRoad Arlanda, where a 2-km stretch was electrified and used for regular freight traffic.

The technology works with the help of a movable arm that finds the rail in the roadway. When the vehicle is positioned directly above the rail, the connector is in the lowered position. When the truck is overtaking, the connector is raised automatically.

Soon to be a reality

So, when will we see the first commercial application? In addition to costs, several important legal and technical issues need to be investigated. In Germany, a study initiated by the environment ministry has suggested that 4 000 km of motorways could be electrified. The cost, €12 billion (about R209 billion), is considered manageable in comparison with the country’s plans to invest close to €100 billion (R1,7 trillion) in the construction and expansion of roads over the next 10 years.

In Sweden, the government has commissioned the Swedish Transport Administration to develop a plan to electrify 2 000 km of the country’s busiest roads by 2030. An announcement regarding a larger project is expected later this year – but significant deployment of commercial electric road systems is only expected in the mid-2020s.

We wonder when this technology will make its way to South Africa – if ever. Can you imagine an electrified N3?