Claim: The world’s first electrified road is in Sweden. It charges electric cars as they drive along it.
Verdict: TRUE. According to Euronews, Sweden’s first electrified road was done in 2015. It allows for the charging of heavy vehicles through Pantographs.
Full Text
Sweden’s high-quality scientific and technological development is renowned throughout the world. Swedish firms invented or developed technological products, including the self-aligning ball bearing, the cream separator, the three-phase electric motor, and the refrigerator without moving parts.
A page called Untold Fact on Facebook posited that the world’s first electrified road is in Sweden. The post says the electrified road charges cars as they drive.
According to Untold Fact, Sweden is the first country with an electrified road that charges the car as it moves on it.
The post, which as of June 2, 2023, had garnered a total of 230,000 likes, 523 shares and 138 comments, has sparked controversy in the comment section as many do not believe it to be true while others think it is a good development for the country and the world at large.
A Facebook User, Ashwani Sharma, replying to the post, questioned its authenticity, saying, “How the heck do you allow anybody from anywhere to post such false information and no correction? ”
Another user, Cathi Pardon, who said he had seen the news a long time ago, agreed with the claim.
Verification
We used Google advanced search to see if such a claim was in the news and discovered that the electric road has existed for over five years.
We also visited the official site of the Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration and found out that about 2 km (1.2mies) of electric rail has been embedded in a public road near Stockholm. The technology behind the electrification of the road linking Stockholm Arland airport to a logistics site outside the city capital aims to solve the thorny problem of keeping electric vehicles charged. Energy is transferred from two rail tracks in the road through a movable arm attached to the bottom of the vehicle.
The electrified road is divided into 50 m sections, with an individual section powered only when a vehicle is above it.
When a vehicle stops, the current is disconnected. The system can calculate the vehicle’s energy consumption, which enables electricity costs to be debited per vehicle and user.
According to Euro News, a recent development was made by Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration. A two-kilometre stretch of road in Gävle, central Sweden, that uses overhead electric lines to allow heavy vehicles to recharge via pantographs similar to an electric train was opened.
While overhead power lines are exclusively for trucks, there could be advantages for those who own private cars if an inductive under-road charging system is implemented. This tech works much like Qi wireless charging in mobile phones.
A pad or plate is embedded under the road, and electric vehicles equipped with a receiving coil are recharged as they pass over it. Such offerings have also been tried in Germany and Michigan.
The European Union passed a landmark law in April 2023 to require all new cars sold to have zero CO2 emissions from 2035. The European countries are preparing the infrastructure needed for fossil fuel-free mobility. Sweden is now permanently turning the highway into a permanent electrified road, the first of its kind worldwide.
“We think the electrification solution is the way forward for decarbonising the transport sector, and we are working with a number of solutions,” Jan Pettersson, Director of Strategic Development at Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration, told Euronews Next.
The project is currently at the procurement stage and is planned to be built by 2025. The electrified highway will be on the E20 motorway between Hallsberg and Örebro. The motorway runs between Stockholm in the North, through Gothenburg, and Malmö in the south.
Conclusion
The first electrified road is indeed in Sweden. The Swedish Transport Administration is building it – Trafikverket.