Electric vehicles (EVs) use onboard batteries to provide the energy they need to operate. The EV batteries have two limiting properties. The first is they only hold a limited charge whether that gives the operator 200, 300, 400, or more kilometres of range. The second is at some point they have to be hooked up to a recharger which means downtime.
But what if the road was the source of continuous power so that the EV would never lose battery charge when riding on it. If roads had this type of technology, then only when an EV went off them would it be using its onboard battery. I could imagine getting off the main roadway to switch to battery power for the last few kilometres to get home.
eRoadArlanda, a Swedish project, is trying to make the above a reality. Its project is a two-year test by the Swedish Transport Administration (STA). Why do this? Because 33% of Sweden’s carbon emissions come from road transportation which is expected to increase by 59% in less than ten years. The STA believes the electrification of 2 to 4% of its road network would reduce fossil fuel consumption in the country by 3 million tons annually, which means reduced emissions by 80 to 90%.
eRoadArlanda uses an electrified rail embedded in the road surface. Vehciles equipped with a sensor to detect the rail would then lower a movable arm which would make contact. The rail would be powered through the conventional power grid or could conceivably use solar panels adjacent to roadways as an off-grid energy source. Any EV if equipped with the sensor and remote arm would be able to connect.
The design allows for existing road infrastructure to easily be converted. The initial pilot project involves a two-kilometre section of road and was launched in 2018. A PostNord battery-powered freight truck was the guinea pig. It was outfitted with sensor and arm. If needed, it easily could disconnect or reconnect with the rail in the face of heavy traffic or poor weather conditions.
The rail and on-vehicle sensor and arm technology can handle obstacles on the road using front-viewing radar similar to what is found on many vehicles today. Small pieces of gravel that may lie or lodge on the rail surace are easily avoided by the flexible arm mechanism which detaches and reattaches to the rail easily. Nor is the rail configuration a danger to bicycles or motorcycles when driving on the roadway. There is nothing to get caught in like a streetcar track because the contract rail lies flush to the road surface and provides similar traction to a concrete or asphalt surface.
The conduction rail is rainproof and has a tested patented solution for dealing with snow and ice. The STA has also taken into consideration any risk to animals or humans that may inadvertently contact the embedded rail. It notes that humans contacting the rail would not receive a shock because the system is designed to provide power only in proximity to a passing vehicle. Anyone standing directly on the road at that moment would be in greater danger of being hit by the vehicle than receiving a shock. A vehicle at low speed will not trigger the rail’s current. Nor will parked and in contact with the rail. As a final safety consideration, should there be a break in the rail circuit, the power automatically shuts down to adjacent road sections.
The initial cost of electrifying the 2-kilometre test came to $2.4 million USD. For the conceived 20,000-kilometre road network the STA wants to electrify, that cost should come down considerably. It estimates the cost of electricity to run the completed road network would amount to $1.2 billion USD annually. Savings once completed would equal $3.8 billion annually with the electrified road paying for itself within 3 years assuming saved fuel costs, construction and maintenance.
For heavy trucks, electrified roads make sense. The electric power needed to transport goods would quickly drain battery packs. The same is true for continuous use transit vehicles like buses and taxicabs which confined to conventional EV battery packs would have to stop for frequent recharges daily. So it would seem that an EV-charging road system has merits.
]]>Laying a thin strip of specially designed copper coils under the road surface creates the energy source that is wirelessly transmitted to any EV equipped with an onboard receiver.
The Swedish Transport Administration picked a 1.6 kilometer (1 mile) section of road running from the airport on the island of Gotland for the first install site. If the trial succeeds it represents the world’s first dynamic electric road system. A truck and a bus will be equipped with the onboard receiver enabling electricity to power the two vehicles. The bus is a fully-functioning public shuttle.
The initial cost is estimated at $12.5 million USD with the Swedish government picking up almost 80% of the tab.
For Sweden’s Transport Administration this is seen as the first step in a plan to rollout recharging infrastructure for 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of roads at a cost of $3 billion USD.
In an April 14, 2019 press release, Jan Pettersson, Program Manager at the Transport Administration, stated, “We, the Swedish Transport Administration, 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.”
What makes ElectReon an attractive choice for Sweden’s road transportation network?
Embedding the power source to continuously charge heavy vehicles such as long-haul trucks means that there is little need to place on board large battery packs. And nor is there a need to put a large number of recharge stations along the routes since the road serves the purpose. With full deployment on main Swedish roads, it eliminates the range anxiety issues once and for all, and should encourage the next generation of EVs that will be lighter and will operate with much smaller battery packs. There will be no need for recharge downtime, and Sweden’s air in urban centers will be far cleaner.
A similar project is undergoing a pilot test in the municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa in Israel. The operator, the Dan Bus Company will provide the shuttle bus used on Gotland’s road.
EVs equipped with ElectReon receivers will still have onboard storage batteries which means they can continue to operate even on a non-electrified road. A network of electrified main routes, therefore, can serve to keep a fleet of buses and trucks in continuous operation even when off the ElectReon grid.
The company plans to install its infrastructure first in cities under main bus routes and commercial service roads. Bus companies and trucking firms are seen as the first operators to have ElectReon receivers installed under their chassis. Following adoption by these first operators, ElectReon is looking to put its technology into on-demand service vehicles and autonomous ones.
ElectReon calls cities with its road infrastructure in place, E-cities, very different places than the urban areas we know today. With full implementation, there will be no gasoline and diesel refueling stations, no electric charging stations, and much cleaner air because of fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
]]>