Electric highways for trucks
The automotive sector is undergoing a major shift and trend towards electric vehicles that respect the environment, the sales graphs confirm this, but the trucking freight sector still resists vehicles that must necessarily be hybrids since they require more energy to operate and batteries - which we do not yet have - that can supply the energy necessary to move them and provide coherent ranges on their long journeys … Will the solution be the electric highways?
We must remember that the reduction of carbon emissions should not only focus on what is the automobile fleet, nor on optimizing the energy efficiency of buildings or producing the best and most efficient solar panels. Heavy transport, whether from a public perspective, such as urban buses, or from a private perspective, in the transport of goods by means of trucks, contributes its important part to CO2 emissions. We just have to test the following graph and its potential:
In reality, long-distance trucks are quite an inefficient way of moving goods from one place to another, so researching from an energy perspective other alternatives that can improve their energy efficiency while respecting the environment must be one of many priorities for that let's have a better future world.
We are clear that trains and trams have been running on electricity for a long time, but only recently have serious moves been made to use the same technology on trucks.
The idea started with the concept eHighway for greener transportation in 2012. The engineering company Siemens began researching the hybrid truck that draws power from electrical cables while the vehicle is in motion on a highway or highway.
To understand the operating system a little better, we can see the following infographic and the corresponding video:
After its success in Sweden where a 2 km stretch of road near Stockholm is already in operation. Now the German administration has taken an interest in the project and has just announced a plan to install a 10-kilometer stretch of a national highway near Frankfurt.
The key to the success of the eHighway system is the extendable power coupler located on top of the trucks that connects to the power line located above the highway lane. "Trucks equipped with the system operate locally emission-free on electricity from the airline, and automatically switch to a hybrid engine on roads without overhead lines."explains the company. The coupler can also be disconnected on the highway and temporarily switch to diesel power if a slower vehicle needs to be overtaken. Once you return to the rail with the power line, the coupler automatically reconnects and the truck returns to electrical power.
Germany has committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 80 to 95 percent by 2050, and is targeting 2030 as the end date for new diesel and gas vehicle sales. Expanding the use of the electric highway could help the country achieve its green ambitions.
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