Sweden tests world first Israeli wireless e-road technology
The world’s first electrified road that recharges the batteries of cars and trucks while travelling on it has been opened in Sweden.
The Swedish Transport Administration is conducting a trial of the new technology on a stretch of public road near Stockholm.
Using technology developed by Israeli company Electreon Wireless, the $12.5m electric transportation project aims to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy trucks and buses.
Led by ElectReon AB, an international consortium will build the 1.6 km electric road as part of a total route of 4.1km between the town of Visby and the airport on Gotland Island in Sweden.
The electric bus – provided by Israeli bus operator Dan Transport, a strategic investor in ElectReon – will be used as a public shuttle, while the electric truck will be tested to ensure that the system is ready for large-scale projects on highways.
ElectReon CEO Oren Ezer said the company’s DWPT (dynamic wireless power transfer) technology “makes it possible to electrify truck fleets economically without the need to carry huge batteries, stop for charging or create a visual hazard. Heavy trucks are an important initial target market for ElectReon in addition to urban public transport.”
ElectReon is based at Beit Yannai, in Central Israel, where it has testing facilities including a 260m circular e-road.
The company will soon begin building a new 1km road in Tel Aviv (about 20 minutes away), in cooperation with the municipality and Ministry of Transportation.
The publicly traded company has about 15 employees, said VP Business Development Noam Ilan, who came to ElectReon (originally named ElectRoad) from its first investor, the Israeli renewable energy investment firm Capital Nature.
Exploring new technical solutions
“Sweden has its own program for testing, evaluating and eventually implementing electric roads. Their main motivation is to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy trucks on highways.
“They’re evaluating a few different concepts and chose us for wireless charging,” Ilan explains.
“Demonstrating and evaluating new technical solutions for electric routes is one of our most important steps in our long-term plan for a potential rollout of electricity routes on the heavy road network in Sweden,” said Jan Pettersson, program manager for Trafikverket Swedish transport administration.
Sweden’s target of achieving independence from fossil fuel by 2030 requires a 70% reduction in the transport sector.
Once the technology is deployed on main roads for the use of public transport, ElectReon hopes to extend the technology to car-sharing services, taxis, trains and autonomous vehicles.
Source: Israel21C
