Sweden opens new road that charges electric vehicles like real-life slot cars

Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot cars
Sweden has a goal of achieving a completely fossil fuel free vehicle fleet by 2030 and in order to achieve this, it has started trialling a series of projects to develop and test technologies that will enable the country to completely convert to electric vehicles.
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Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot cars
One project includes the "eRoad" which charges electric vehicles during journeys via a rail. So far, it has cost €6.4 million ($7.7 million) to install but it's predicted that if it were implemented across the country it would eventually work out less than €1 million ($1.2 million) per kilometer to build.
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Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot cars
The trial track built by eRoadArlanda stretches along two kilometers (1.2 miles) and has been installed on public road "893" just 30 minutes outside of Stockholm.
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Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot cars
Electricity is transferred to vehicles via a movable arm that attaches to a track in the middle of the road. While the system is designed with the capacity to feed heavier vehicles such as trucks, it's also developed to work for cars and buses.
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Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot cars
When vehicles approach the track, a sensor from the car or truck detects the electrified rail and a movable arm from underneath the vehicle lowers and inserts into the rail.