Germany opens the first electric highway that allows trucks to pull their energy from overhead cables

The Siemens eHighway during its first tests in December 2018.

YouTube / Hessen Mobil – Road and Traffic Management

• A 9km stretch of "eHighway" has been opened in Germany.
• This route, inspired by the lines of electric trains, cost 244 million rand to the German Ministry of the Environment and is on trial until 2022.
• The driver rods attached to the roof of a truck are connected to 670-volt overhead cables, which charge the trucks when they drive.
• Germany has also spent 1.1 million rand to develop a truck, which, according to Siemens, will save 321,000 rand of fuel per 99,000 km.
• The German Ministry of Transport said that nearly 80% of truck traffic in Germany could soon be electrified to reduce emissions.
• Siemens also tested the online highway in Carson (California) in November 2017.
• For more information, visit Business Insider South Africa.

Germany has inaugurated its first ever "eHighway" section, which allows hybrid transport trucks to recharge their batteries while on the move.

On Tuesday, the German government introduced the technology on a 9 km long motorway stretch near the city of Frankfurt. It uses 670-volt dc aerial cables that allow electric trolleys to feed and recharge their batteries while traveling.

The program, called Elisa (innovative heavy traffic electrified on the highway), is a project sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and involving the electronics giant Siemens and the authorities of the. state of Hesse, where it unfolds.

A truck with its conductive rods extended.

Hessenschau

Trucks – which have conductive rods called pantographs added to the top of the cab – must travel less than 96 km / h to make the connection.

When they are connected, they only work with electricity. When they join the normal route, they return to their hybrid engines.

Siemens, which manufactures highways online, has released this chart.

Siemens

Siemens said the technology would allow a 40-tonne truck to save 20,000 euros of fuel over more than 99,000 kilometers.

He also said that if a driver turned left or right while being connected to the cables, he would not come off.

The 9 km stretch of the A5 motorway will be tested until 2022, after which a decision will be made as to whether or not to extend the project, which until now has cost the government a total of 14 million euros.

Germany has also spent 70 million euros (1.1 million rand) for the manufacture of a special hybrid truck with Scania and Volkswagen.

This video from Siemens shows how the project aims to connect seaports to cities using trucks and the electronic highway.

The German Ministry of Transport recently published a study according to which Deutsche Welle says that 80% of truck traffic in Germany could soon become electrified.

Two other eHighway lanes are already under construction. One is in northern Schleswig-Holstein, the other in Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany.

Germany has said it wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020, by 55% by 2030 and by up to 95% by 2050. compared to 1990 levels.

Siemens also tested the online highway in Carson (California) in November 2017.