What if Highways Were Electric? Germany Is Testing the Idea.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/business/electric-trucks-catenary-wire.html#commentsContainer
There’s a debate over how to make the trucking industry free of
emissions, and whether batteries or hydrogen fuel cells are the best way
to fire up electric motors in big vehicles. Mr. Schmieder was part of a
test of a third alternative: a system that feeds electricity to trucks
as they drive, using wires strung above the roadway and a pantograph
mounted on the cab.
...
And the system is relatively simple. Siemens, the German electronics
giant that provided the hardware for this test route, adapted equipment
that has been used for decades to drive trains and urban street cars.
...
So far the sections of highway equipped with overhead cable in Germany
are short — about three miles long in both directions near Frankfurt.
Their purpose is to test how the system performs in everyday use by real
trucking companies hauling real goods. By the end of the year more than
20 trucks will be using the systems in Germany.
...
Longer term, according to Siemens figures, 4,000 kilometers of wired
highway, or nearly 2,500 miles, would accommodate 60 percent of German
truck traffic.
...
But the onus would be on the German government to build the overhead
cables, which cost an estimated 2.5 million euros per kilometer, or
about $5 million per mile.
...
But, responding to questions from The New York Times, the ministry noted
that batteries are getting cheaper and better all the time, and charging
times are dropping. “In the final analysis the total cost of
infrastructure, vehicles and energy will decide what technology or
combination of technologies prevails,” the ministry said.
...
The cables also recharged the Scania’s battery, which stores enough
power to drive short distances emission-free in urban traffic. That is
another advantage of the catenary system: The eHighway could eliminate
the need for charging stops, important in the trucking industry where
time is money.
---------
The fact that Tesla nearly has a semi tractor capable of many long haul
routes leads me to believe the battery solution will win. Nonetheless,
it's great to see this experiment happening.
Peri
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