The "electric road" isn't a very long one – about 2 km – but it's being touted as a major step forward as part of the Swedish government's efforts to remove fossil fuels from the country's truck fleet by 2030.
The government is spending about SEK 77 million ($9.2 million) while private companies are footing the bill for another $5.7 million for the project, which will run along European Highway 16 between the Port of Gävle and Storvik. Siemens developed the technology that lets the electricity be transferred between the overhead lines and the pantograph power collector mounted on the frame behind the cab. The company has been testing some trucks at its plant near Berlin since 2013.
Perhaps there's something in the water in Sweden when it comes to large-vehicle charging. Last year, Volvo said it would build a section of road about a quarter-mile long that would employ inductive charging to recharge the batteries of diesel hybrid city buses as the pass over the road.
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