eRoads Arlanda – world’s first electrified road for charging vehicles has opened in Sweden. The first working tracks on Road 983 was started in October 2017 and has now been completed and electricity turned on. Modified electric vehicles can now be charged while they’re driving.
eRoadArlanda is one of several projects in the Swedish Transport Administration’s pre-commercial procurement of innovation for the development of electrified roads and the project was started in June 2013. The newly opened stretch of road outside Stockholm transfers energy from two tracks of rail in the road, recharging the batteries of electric cars and trucks.
First out on the 2km (1.2 miles) long road was an 18-ton electric truck transporting goods between Arlanda and the PostNord terminal in Rosersberg, and the road is set up to bill the driver for the amount of electricity the car pulls from the road as it moves. The techniques that have been developed in recent years are based on conductive technology that use an electric rail installed in roads to power and recharge vehicles during their journey.
Related: Electric Highway in Sweden
The goal of the project is to generate knowledge, experience and decision data that is conducive to the creation of a platform for the electrification of larger transport routes in Sweden. The Swedish government’s road agency has already drafted a national map for future expansion. The project is an important part of Sweden’s target of achieving independence from fossil fuel by 2030 requires a 70% reduction in the transport sector.
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“The electric road project and the shift away from fossil fuels will help boost Sweden’s competitiveness,” the organization says. Energy is transferred from two tracks of rail in the road via a movable arm attached to the bottom of a vehicle. The electrified road is divided into 50m sections, with an individual section powered only when a vehicle is above it.
Related: Environment Friendly Norway Loves Electric Cars.
In Sweden there are roughly half a million kilometers of roadway, of which 20,000km are highways.
World’s first electrified road opened in Sweden, written by Tor Kjolberg