This study examines a potential international corridor with Electric Road Systems (ERS) from Sweden via Denmark to Germany in the form of a case study. ERS use conductive or inductive technologies to enable energy transfer to electric vehicles while driving. The study aims to illustrate the challenges of a transnational ERS and to discuss potential implementation strategies. For this purpose, we first define relevant criteria to assess the usefulness of establishing an ERS corridor. Technical, economic, environmental, but also political-strategic criteria play a role here. Based on these criteria, we evaluate the ERS corridor using traffic flow analyses and derive recommendations as to what needs to be considered when designing a Swedish-German ERS corridor.
The Swedish government has prioritized achieving a fossil fuel-independent vehicle fleet by 2030 which will require radical transformation of the transport industry. Electrifying the vehicle fleet forms an important part of this transformation. For light vehicles, electrification using batteries and charging during parking is already well advanced. For city buses, charging at bus stops and bus depots is being developed, but for heavy, long-distance road transport, batteries with enough capacity to provide sufficient range would be too cumbersome and too much time would have to be spent stationary for charging. One solution might be the introduction of electric roads, supplying the moving vehicle with electricity both to power running and for charging. In the longer term, this approach could also be used for light vehicles and buses. The objective of the Research and Innovation Platform for Electric Roads was to enhance Swedish and Nordic research and innovation in this field, this has been done by developing a joint knowledge base through collaboration with research institutions, universities, public authorities, regions, and industries. The work of the Research and Innovation Platform was intended to create clarity concerning the socioeconomic conditions, benefits, and other effects associated with electric roads. We have investigated the benefits from the perspectives of various actors, implementation strategies, operation and maintenance standards, proposed regulatory systems, and factors conducive of the acceptance and development of international collaborative activities. The project commenced in the autumn of 2016 and the main research continued until December 2019, the work during year 2020 has been focused on knowledge spread and coordination with the Swedish-Germany research collaboration on ERS (CollERS). The results of the Research and Innovation Platform have been disseminated through information meetings, seminars, and four annual international conferences. Reports have been published in the participating partners' ordinary publication series and on www.electricroads.org. The project was funded by Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation (FFI) and the Swedish Transport Administration.
The present study aims at discussing relevant aspects for a potential roll-out of Electric Road Systems (ERS) on transnational corridors, as well as generally for ERS introduction in Europe. Feasibility criteria have thus been developed in order to assess the following topics for specific potential ERS corridor projects: Technical aspects: Which technical prerequisites exist for ERS corridors and to which extent can they expected to be met? Environmental aspects: Which effects can be expected on key environmental indicators? Economic aspects: Can an ERS corridor pose a business case? Could it contribute to the improvement of ERS economy in general? Political aspects: Would an ERS corridor implementation make sense from a political point of view? The developed criteria may serve as a toolbox for scrutinizing future transnational ERS corridor projects. In order to illustrate their application, we used them to analyse a potential roll-out of an Electric Road System on a selected highway corridor (424 km) connecting Sweden and Germany, but mainly located on Danish territory. Based on traffic flows and patterns along the corridor route, it was found: A considerable part of the total truck mileage on the corridor is done by vehicles with a rather limited driving distance for pre- and post-haul, assuming the corridor is realized as a stand-alone project, and the CO2 emissions (well-to-wheel) of truck traffic along the corridor route can be significantly reduced if electric trucks are powered by the national electricity mixes expected for the year 2030, and even more if it would be powered purely renewable. Although a continuous ERS on the complete corridor route would not be economically feasible under current conditions, the analysis pinpoints sections along the route where the traffic volumes with a sufficient share of operation on a potential ERS are significantly higher. These sections are located in the metropolitan areas of Malmö, Copenhagen and Hamburg. For implementation, peculiarities of the local markets and regulation should be considered, as well as country-specific priorities on decarbonizing road freight transport. Additionally, the identified ERS potential for medium distances will depend on the technical and cost development of battery trucks. Our analysis also sheds some light on the role of first transnational corridors within a European roll-out strategy for ERS. Such corridor projects could help to proof the principal strengths of ERS, trigger strategic coordination between the participating countries, foster national ERS roll-out due to synergy effects with the corridor and pave the way for integration of ERS into EU legislation (e.g. AFID, TEN-T planning) ; Swedish-German Research Collaboration on Electric Road Systems (CollERS)
