Green energy has received a huge boost in Scandinavia after the opening of an electric road in Sweden which recharges the batteries of cars that drive over it.
The stretch of road has an electric rail embedded in it, with energy transferred from two tracks in the road via a moveable arm attached to the bottom of a vehicle.
Though the initial strip of electrified tarmac is only 2km long, the Swedish government’s road planners are already working on expanding the road across the country. The road which is located near Stockholm airport will help the country achieve their aim of being independent of fossil fuel by 2030.
The system, known as dynamic charging, allows for smaller batteries in vehicles, due to the ability to charge the battery whilst the car is moving, without the need to use a roadside charging post. A former diesel truck, converted to electric, was the first vehicle to use the electrification of the road.
“If we electrify 20,000km of highways that will definitely be enough,” said Hans Sall, chief executive of eRoadArlanda. “The distance between two highways is never more than 45km and electric cars can already travel that distance without needing to be recharged. Some believe it would be enough to electrify 5,000km.
“There is no electricity on the surface. There are two tracks, just like an outlet in the wall. Five or six centimetres down is where the electricity is. But if you flood the road with salt water then we have found that the electricity level at the surface is just one volt. You could walk on it barefoot.”
The cost of installing the electric lines is believed to be 1million euros per kilometre, 50 times lower than the cost to construct an urban tram line.
Sweden has led the way in the electrification of roads, in 2016 they developed overhead power lines which were able to charge lorries but were unsuitable for cars.
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