Sweden Launches Electrified Roads As Part Of Their Bid To End Fossil Fuel Reliance by 2030

Sweden Launches Electrified Roads As Part Of Their Bid To End Fossil Fuel Reliance by 2030

As part of their commitment to eliminating its reliance on fossil fuels by 2030, Sweden has launched a highly innovative project to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles - an electrified road. The first of its kind can be found near Stockholm and is located on a 2km stretch between Arlanda airport and a logistics site outside the city.

It allows cars and lorries travelling along the stretch to charge their electric batteries as they travel over it. It connects the electrified tracks in the road to a moveable electric arm attached to the vehicle. Once the vehicle stops, the current disconnects. It is completely safe as there is no electricity on the surface and the charge itself will only activate for authorised vehicles. The system calculates the vehicle's energy usage and calculates the associated costs per user.

The road will be tested for 2 years to gauge weather and traffic impacts. After this, the government will decide how to roll it out. At a cost of around €1m per kilometre of track, it costs around 50 times less than an urban tram line.

 

For more information or to watch an explainer video, click on the links below:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2018/apr/12/how-worlds-first-electrified-road-charges-moving-vehicles-video-explainer

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/26/motorsport/sweden-electrified-road-intl-spt/index.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-vattenfall-electricvehicles/electrified-roads-swedish-project-could-slash-cost-of-electric-vehicles-idUSKCN1IF2FW

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/12/worlds-first-electrified-road-for-charging-vehicles-opens-in-sweden