Sweden Tests World's First Electric Road For Trucks (inhabitat.com)

Kristine Lofgren writes: Electric vehicles are cool, but for industrial vehicles it can be a challenge to get very far on just electric power. That's why Sweden is testing out an electric road where e-vehicles can jump on, get juiced while they travel, and get back on the road. The country just opened a two kilometer test stretch in Sandviken on the E16 where electric vehicles can connect to an overhead system that is very similar to light rail. It's another exciting step towards a fossil fuel-free Sweden. Trucks can use the electric power while riding on the special electric road system -- on regular roads they operate as hybrid vehicles. The testing is scheduled to take place until 2018, which should give the country enough time to see how the technology functions in the real world. Sweden's energy and sustainable growth agencies will fund the project in addition to the transport administration.

Comments

Congratulations

[Bloke down the pub]

Congratulations. You have invented the train.

Re:Congratulations

[M8e]

Trains need rails. This is just a trolleybus(or trolleytruck)/battery hybrid.

It's just like a plug-in hybrid, but instead of having to stop and plug into a socket these trucks can just drive through these special stretches of road.

You get about 1 minute of "fast-charge" per mile.

Re:Congratulations

[AndrewBuck]

Actually I have been wondering for a long time why trains don't do exactly what these trucks are doing. Many (most?) trains now (at least around here in the US) are deisel-electric with a deisel engine running an on-board generator to make electricity for the wheels. If you had retractable electrical things on the top of the engine to connect to overhead wires you could use grid electricity for the steep grades and other fuel demanding portions of the trip (like the first couple miles out of major rail yards where you are still getting up to speed) and then spin up the diesel as you get into the long stretches of mainline where you only need to overcome air and rolling resistance which are both minimal for a train.

In addition to this you could do regenerative breaking on these same stretches of tracks to feed power back into the grid when slowing down. Many locomotives already use electrical generators in the wheels (basically just using the motors as generators) as this avoids wear on the wheels and brakes by avoiding the older mechanical brakes. However on long down grades they still have to use the mechanical brakes since they have no way to get rid of the excess energy; the electrical generator brakes just heat up an onboard tank of water which can only take so much heating before they have to fall back to the mechanical brakes.

So basically all of the things you need to do a hybrid system like this are already onboard a modern locomotive, the only thing missing is the wires above the tracks and the thing on top of the locomotive to connect to them. The thing on top would be a very small cost to add, the wires would be a lot more expensive per mile, however you can choose which sections of rail to electrify since you are going for a hybrid approach which lets you only electrify the most beneficial parts of the rail network.

Overall I think it is a very good idea and I am surprised I have not seen it implemented or at least discussed. Maybe I am missing something but it seems like it would work well. I guess the main issue would be the large power surge to the grid from regenerative braking and the huge temporary draw when getting up to speed but it seems like this would be addressable without too much difficulty.

Re:Great news for a fossil fuel free Sweden...

[Mashiki]

Unless wind/solar/etc work when it's cloudy or windy like in other parts of the world nearly all the time it'll never replace other sources like hydro-electric or nuclear. And unless the cost is pennies people won't like their electric rates going through the roof like what we've seen in other countries or here in Canada either. Ontario has had a big push for green energy and as of today at peak you're paying just a bit above $0.17kWh for electricity for your home and double that for industrial uses. It's around $0.07kWh at peak just across the border in Michigan and half that for industrial rates. When nuclear costs under $0.05kWh to sell, when hydro-electric is $0.025, when coal and NG are $0.01-0.068kWh those green sources have to come a long way still.

And that's because in Ontario they decided to pay $0.80kWh for various forms of green energy. On the upside, it hasn't gotten as bad as Germany when it hit $0.43kWh for home use. Cheap energy is one of the greatest equalizers of civilization and one of the best providers in increasing the standards of living across the globe. Drive the price up too high and you see what happened in the UK a few years ago with the elderly on pensions dying because they froze to death during the winter.

Re:Great news for a fossil fuel free Sweden...

[angel'o'sphere]

Actually, no they are not, you are forgetting about a few factors including:
transmission losses
Transmission losses are neglectible. Every advanced nation has an electric grid for its trains, except ....... the USA. I suggest to read up on transmission losses, DC versus AC and voltage versus amperes to get a clue how power transportation works.

If you want any significant growth in electric transportation, the ONLY viable power source is nuclear - is that a pill you are willing to swallow?

Wind and solar are cheaper ... so your argument is moot.

I also wonder why you think the cost of wind generation is dropping
Because it is?