Smartroad Gotland
The world's first wireless electric road charging e-busses and e-trucks
How does it work?
Smartroad Gotland is a demonstration of a 1.6 km long electric road situated between the airport and town centre of Visby on the idyllic island of Gotland, a Swedish eco-municipality in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Long haul heavy truck fleets benefit significantly from the Electreon solution since no heavy and costly batteries, nor stops for charging, are needed. The technology includes unique DWPT system (Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer), road infrastructure - placed under the road at the centre of the traffic lane, a receiver - located under the vehicle chassis, communication system - provides real-time communication with each vehicle and power stations - an underground system that transmits the energy to the road’s infrastructure. Placing unique copper coils along a kilometre of a road can be constructed in one night without interrupting daily life. After deploying the coils, the road is covered with asphalt, and ready to go.
Why is it needed?
The project is financed by the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) as part of the electric road roadmap of the Swedish government to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy transportation. The inductive electric road reduces the need for fossil fuels for heavy transport in a sustainable, cost-efficient and energy-efficient way. Electric roads also reduce air pollution and noise near highways and in urban environments.
How does it improve life?
Smartroad Gotland is a unique pre-commercial demonstration project with the purpose of building knowledge for future electricity roads. This is done by implementing an inductive electric road, compatible with all types of vehicles, in Visby, Sweden. This world-leading technique has created an opportunity to massively reduce the need for fossil fuels and simultaneously decrease air and noise pollution in urban areas. The first road stretch was completed in November 2019. The deployment was completed in autumn 2020. The first tests with the truck were done in December 2020. The electric bus started to operate in the autumn of 2021. The project lasts until autumn 2023.