Two test projects launched earlier this summer involving the combination of heavy duty trucks and the world’s first electric road.
A two-kilometre strip on the E16 motorway in the centre of Sweden will be the first to test the use of electrically powered trucks from Scania on an open road with other traffic.
The trucks are powered by a pantograph power collector mounted onto the roof of the vehicle. The pantographs are connected to overhead power cables while on the strip of road, the vehicles can connect and disconnect freely at speeds as fast as 56mph.
The conductive technology developed by Siemens allows the trucks to operate as electric vehicles when on the electrically powered road and regular hybrid vehicles at all other times powered by the battery-operated electric motor or combustion engine.
This road is part of a broader scheme to create an energy efficient and fossil free fleet by the year 2030. Scania’s head of Research and Development Claes Erixon stated “The electric road is one important milestone on the journey towards fossil-free transport. Scania is committed to the success of this project and is committed to sustainable transport solutions.”
This is just one of several test projects taking place in Sweden, there is another, similar program located near Arlanda, 35 miles north of Stockholm which involves a dedicated lane inside the roadway with an electric rail above. Not to forget, Volvo has also been developing an electric road system for the last year in the form of the ElectriCity bus line.
So the future of transport looks environmentally friendly, but how do you feel about the introduction of electrified roads?
References
Scania. (2016). World’s first electric road opens in Sweden. Available: https://www.scania.com/group/en/worlds-first-electric-road-opens-in-sweden/. Last accessed 10/08/16.
Danny King. (2016). Sweden testing electric trucks on wired roads.Available: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/06/23/sweden-test-electric-trucks-wired-road/. Last accessed 10/08/16.