Sweden tests first electric road in hopes of becoming carbon neutral
The colorful ceremony outside Sandviken was attended by Infrastructure Minister Anna Johansson, Energy Minister Ibrahim Baylan, Director General of the Swedish Transport Agency, Lena Erixon, and the Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency, Erik Brandsma.
The tests will be administered for two years on a 22 km long stretch of the E16 road, which connects Norway's Bergen and Oslo with Sweden's Gävle north of Stockholm and is intended to provide electric power to heavy transports. Electric-powered trucks are expected to cut as much as 80-90 percent of fossil fuel emissions.
"Fuelled with 'good' electricity, they are very environmentally friendly," Magnus Ernström, project leader of Region Gävleborg told the Swedish trade newspaper Byggvärlden.
The current from aerial conductors will be fed to the hybrid electric motor by means of a current collector or pantograph. The technology is not really new and is based on the 120-year-old tram technology. What makes it innovative is the hybrid technology that can "seamlessly" switch from powertrain to another, Magnus Ernström explained.
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