First-Ever Vehicle-Charging Road Is on the Horizon

Since Sweden conducted a series of pilot projects that proved the feasibility of a road able to charge electric vehicles as they use it, the Scandinavian country will be home to the world’s first vehicle-charging electric road in 2025.

A 21-km highway stretch in the county of Örebro – some 100km west of Stockholm, the capital – will be electrified since most of the freight transported across Sweden passes through Örebro.

The goal of such electrification is encouraging the use of electric trucks, which is why Trafikverket, the agency that oversees Sweden’s highway network, has chosen the two-lane E20 highway that links Hallsberg and Örebro. It has yet to be determined the technology used to electrify that portion of the road – a retractable pick-up that drags along a metal rail embedded in the road has been tested among other methods – but a deadline has been fixed to 2025.