World's first electric road to be constructed in Sweden

The world's first electric roadway that will utilize wireless vehicle charging technology will be constructed on the Swedish island of Gotland.

Swedish Transport Administration (STA) has selected the Israel-based Electreon Wireless to implement the technology that will be able to charge both an electric truck and a bus while they are in full motion. "We are excited that we have been selected to take part in the Swedish government's ambitious program to examine and implement electric road technology as a solution to electrify heavy trucks on highways," Oren Ezer, CEO of Electreon, stated.

The project includes the construction of a 4,1-km roadway (a 1,6-km part will be the electric road) that will connect the city of Visby with its airport in Gotland.

The system is compatible with all kinds of electric vehicles (cars, buses, trucks etc.). A typical car should be equipped with a 12kg receptor unit while larger vehicles need to have more than one receptor to increase charging capacity. The electric road will be used by a public bus that will be evaluated in all possible conditions to test the system's reliability. The road is part of a much larger project as Swedish government is planning on implementing about 2,000 km of electric road networks in the future investing about $3 billion.

“We believe that electric roads are an important contribution to reducing CO₂ emissions from heavy transportation. Demonstrating and evaluating new technical solutions for electric routes is one of our most important steps in our long-term plan for a potential roll-out of electrified routes on the heavy road network in Sweden,” explained Jan Pettersson, program manager at the STA.

The total cost of the project is expected to reach $12.5 million with about 80% of that amount deriving from governmental funding.

Sources: Traffictechnologytoday.com, Jpost.com