Changing The Charge

Sweden’s New Way to Charge Your Electric Ride

Imagine you are driving in your new totally electric Prius. You have the radio up, the windows down and the road stretched out before you. Suddenly your auto signals you that you are running out of electric charge. You will soon be on the side of the road out of juice. However, if a new project that has been introduced in Sweden is successful, then stopping to recharge will be a thing of the past.

An article in Reuters.com, written by Lefteris Karagiannopoulos, describes how an electrified road in Sweden,  first in the world to charge vehicles as they drive along,  may reduce the high cost of electric cars.

…project backers Vattenfall [VATN.UL] and Elways told Reuters. The state-funded project, named eRoadArlanda and costing about 50 million crowns ($5.82 million), uses a modified electric truck that moves cargo from Stockholm’s Arlanda airport to Postnord’s nearby logistics hub to test the technology. A electrified rail embedded in the tarmac of the 2-km-long (1.24 miles) road charges the truck automatically as it travels above it. A movable arm attached to the truck detects the rail’s location in the road, and charging stops when the vehicle is overtaking or coming to a halt. The system also calculates the vehicle’s energy consumption, which enables electricity costs to be debited per vehicle and user.

Too good to be real? Likely not. According to Elways Chief Executive Gunnar Asplund, it also means car won’t need their batteries to be so large.

“The technology offers infinite range — range anxiety disappears” he said.

Installing the arm in new cars would be cheaper than retrofitting current models, according to Asplund. Testing started in April and is expected to last at least a year. That will allow vehicles to be driven and tested in all types of weather conditions.

read more at reuters.com