Sweden opens first operational eHighway

The world’s first eHighway has opened in Sweden, on a two-kilometre stretch of the E16 highway north of Stockholm.

The section of the highway has been equipped with a Siemens catenary system for trucks, an eHighway technology that claims to be twice as energy efficient as a conventional internal combustion engine.

The trial will use two diesel hybrid vehicles manufactured by Scania and adapted, in collaboration with Siemens, to operate under the catenary system. The core of the system is an intelligent pantograph combined with a hybrid drive system and a sensor system, which enables the pantograph to connect to and disconnect from the overhead line at speeds of up to 90 km per hour.

Trucks equipped with the system draw power from the overhead catenary wires as they drive, enabling them to travel efficiently and with zero local emissions. Flexibility is maintained as operation outside of the contact line is possible, as is open configuration - allowing battery or natural gas solutions to be implemented as an alternative to diesel.

Sweden maintains plans to free its transport sector from fossil fuels by 2030. At present, transport accounts for more than one third of Sweden's CO2 emissions, with almost half of that coming from freight transport.

Roland Edel, chief engineer of Siemens Mobility Division, said: “The Siemens eHighway is twice as efficient as conventional internal combustion engines. The Siemens innovation supplies trucks with power from an overhead contact line. This means that not only is energy consumption cut by half, but local air pollution is reduced too.”

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