Sweden installs world's first public vehicle charging road

The world’s first road to charge electric vehicles (EVs) on the move using technology embedded on its surface has been installed in Sweden.

A 2-km electric rail, which has been built into a public road near Stockholm Airport, allows vehicles to charge as they drive. It is the first part of a Swedish government plan to roll-out EV re-charging rails on highways across the country.

The project – known as eRoadArlanda – is being spearheaded by the Swedish Transport Administration and is among other projects aimed at meeting the government’s target to curb the nation’s transport dependency on fossil fuels by 2030.

The electrified road is divided into 50 m sections. It works by transferring energy from the rail via a moveable arm attached to the bottom of a specially adapted vehicle, which disconnects when vehicles are no longer above. Its ‘dynamic charging’ nature also means a vehicle’s batteries can be smaller than average vehicle batteries, therefore decreasing manufacture costs, according to IBIS Worldwide.

The pilot project links Stockholm’s Arlanda airport to a logistics site outside of the city. The first vehicle to trial it will be a diesel hybrid truck owned by Nordic logistics company PostNord.

Another vehicle charging road, but one that uses wires above rather than on the ground, was unveiled in Sweden in 2016. It allows hybrid trucks to connect and draw electricity from overhead power lines on the country's E16 motorway. The 2 km strip, installed near Gävle in central Sweden, was developed by the country's government in partnership with Scania, which supplied the trucks, and Siemens, which developed the road's conductive charging technology.