Swedish test highway can charge electric cars

By admin On Apr 14, 2018

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If you are a child of the 70s or 80s, you might know the Carrera race tracks that you could get with a slit in it, where a small car could drive around because of a projection on the bottom contact made with the job. This so to speak.

The same principle but then more advanced is now being tested in Sweden. Two kilometres of highway has been opened there, in which a sort of rail is embedded in the middle of the road that can charge electric cars while driving. The project is called eRoadArlanda and works exactly the same as those small cars, with the difference that the contact arm is retractable.

Not dangerous

It seems to be very dangerous, but that is not too bad. The rails are grounded so that you can not get any shock and the point of contact where the electricity comes out is hidden in the rail and is only switched on if sensors see that a car passes over it. According to the makers, you could only electrocute yourself if you poke low on the ground with a fork in the rails. The chance that you will be run over is significantly greater than that you die from the electricity.
The weather conditions should not be a problem: the rails have a good drainage system and the contact arm on the cars is designed so that it automatically removes small obstacles. The slits between the rails are also small enough that no wheel can get trapped. The system has been tested for a few years and the two kilometres that are now publicly tested are close to an airport and are being tested with a specific mail truck.

Electrification

If all this goes according to plan, Sweden intends to roll out the idea on more roads. The electrification of all main roads in Sweden (some 20,000 kilometres in total) would cost nearly 8 billion euros, but the costs would be repaid within three years, this is calculated.

The idea is good: by making the main roads make electric driving relatively energy-neutral you can suddenly drive much further on a battery in an electric car . In this way, it is not necessary to search endless and expensive for better batteries for cars and the distances that the Swedes can travel electrically can still increase. Smart!