Germany Opens First Electric Highway For Trucks
Germany Opens First Electric Highway For Trucks
BY : CHARLIE COCKSEDGE
https://www.unilad.co.uk/technology/germany-opens-first-electric-highway-for-trucks/?source=facebook
When Eddie Grant sang ‘We’re gonna rock down to Electric Avenue’, in his seminal 1982 tune Electric Avenue, who’d have thought that one day we’d have actual electric highways.
Eddie will be pleased to hear, then, that Germany is introducing electric highways for trucks, allowing HGVs to draw power from overhead cables, reducing their diesel and petrol use, and therefore reducing their CO2 output, helping tackle climate change along the way.
The new development is the first of its kind to be tested on public roads in Germany, where trucks with special equipment mounted to their roofs can connect to electrified lines above the autobahn, and travel at speeds of up to 90km per hour (56mph).
The new technology has been designed by Siemens, and aided by the German government, which has spent €70 million developing trucks that can use the system, according to CNN.
So far, the system runs along a 10km (6.2 mile) stretch of the autobahn between Frankfurt airport and a nearby industrial park. Two more stretches of the highway are expected to open soon.
The trucks run on electric motors when connected to the overhead power lines, and on hybrid systems when on regular roads. Sensors inside the lorries detect when they can use the overhead cables.
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