Solaris to participate in innovative electric road charging project

Solaris Sverige AB, the Swedish arm of Solaris Bus & Coach, has agreed to participate in the ‘EVolution Road’ project that aims to create an electric road which automatically detects and charges electric vehicles (EV).

EVolution Road is an electric road model which will enable the battery charging of buses – and eventually of other EVs – both while driving and stationary.  

The project, which aims to test novel ways of EV charging and move towards fossil fuel-free transportation, was initiated by Swedish company Elonroad AB and the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Lund. A total of €9 million has been invested in the project, which has been largely financed by the Swedish Transport Administration.

The demonstration site, which will be constructed in the first quarter of 2020, will be situated in the city of Lund in southern Sweden and will run for three years as part of the project. A 1km-long section of the road will be equipped with electric rails, each of them one metre long.

These are activated in a sequence beneath the EV and are then turned off when no EV is present. The road uses wireless communication to identify the approach of an EV and activates accordingly. This ensures the safety both in front of and behind the vehicle, and is designed to function for urban traffic as well as highways. The traction batteries of the vehicle will be charged as the pick-up receivers under the vehicle connect with the conductive rail installed in the road.

The project aims to reduce the need for large, heavy traction batteries which would in turn reduce the weight and cost of EVs themselves.

Other partners of the project include the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Lund municipality, Innovation Skåne AB, Kraftringen Energi AB, Ramboll AB and Skånetrafiken.