The first electric motorway is to be built by 2025. Then electric trucks - and later e-cars - can be supplied with electricity while driving thanks to dynamic charging. In this way, Sweden plans to promote the development of electric mobility solutions and make its contribution to the decarbonisation of transport.
In the European Union, Sweden is certainly considered one of the pioneers when it comes to electromobility. In 2022, more than 150,000 electric vehicles were registered in the country - and many more have been added in the meantime. Around half of all new car registrations are either pure electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. In this context, a rapid expansion of the electric infrastructure is more than necessary, especially if the country wants to focus even more on electric vehicles. Not only the expansion of traditional charging points is planned, but also the promotion of an innovative pilot project: the e-highway.
Over the coming months, an approximately 20-kilometre section of the E20 European Road will be transformed into a permanently electrified road. The motorway connecting Hallsberg and Örebro will be the first of its kind in the world - as it is being built with the specific aim of charging electric vehicles while driving. As part of the pilot project, trucks will test the route first, but electric cars will soon also be given the opportunity, according to the Swedish road authorities "Trafikverket". Construction work on the motorway is to be completed by 2025. But it is still unclear which charging method will be chosen for the E20. There is talk of overhead line systems, inductive and conductive systems.
The goal - Trafikverket explains - is to show that "dynamic charging makes e-vehicles more efficient". On the e-highway, drivers should be able to cover longer distances without needing larger batteries or long charging times. In the process, Sweden will also work on the infrastructure, which is in need of expansion, and expand the charging network with the possibility of dynamic charging. The conditions for electric mobility - should the motorway successfully pass the test trials and show potential for further development - will thus improve. At the same time, electric transport should thus be promoted and bring the country one step closer to the transport revolution.
"We believe that electrification is the way forward to decarbonise the transport sector, and we are working with a number of solutions," namely Jan Pettersson, Director of Strategic Development at Trafikverket, explained. By 2045, another 3,000 kilometres of "electric roads" will be developed, with different charging systems to test the most suitable one. The developments in Sweden are therefore to be followed with interest. The results of the electric mobility project can have an important signal effect for the rest of the European Union and show the other states that electric roads can be an important tool in the green design of transport infrastructure.
After all, emission-reducing measures such as diesel driving bans and environmental zones alone are not enough to be able to reduce harmful emissions on the roads in the long term. In this sense, technical progress is indispensable if politicians want to achieve their climate goals in the transport sector as well. This is also the case in countries like Sweden, where strict environmental zones have been in force since 1995. Buses of the vehicle classes M2 and M3, as well as trucks of the classes N2 and N3, with the Euronorm 0-5 are in fact banned in the Swedish environmental zones. Establishing an e-highway here is another step towards the final ban on combustion vehicles - regardless of the Euronorm.