2023-07-13 18:47:05
Allow vehicles to fill up with electricity while driving, and massively decarbonize the heavy goods vehicle sector. Such are the ambitions of the electric highway, from its official name ERS (Electric Road System). Conclusive experiments are multiplying in Europe and around the world, and Vinci Autoroutes intends to participate. The leading French motorway concessionaire has announced that it will experiment with two methods from September on a 4-kilometre section of the A10 motorway near Paris.
Different methods
The first solution is inductive charging. The principle: under the road surface is installed a series of transmitter coils supplied with electricity, which generates a magnetic field. Vehicles are equipped with a receiver coil, allowing them to receive electromagnetic waves and transform them into electric current that is redirected directly to the batteries.
The second method is charging by conductor rail. As its name suggests, a rail is installed flush with the bitumen, and both trucks and cars can connect to it to recharge electricity. A technique that is found in particular for the supply of certain public transport, such as the Paris metro.
Far from being a single fad of Vinci Autoroutes, the electrification of motorway networks is perceived by the French State as a priority for decarbonizing the road transport sector. As a reminder, in 2019 it represented nearly 94% of CO2 emissions from the transport sector, the latter being responsible for 25% of national emissions. At the heart of the decarbonization strategy, the electric vehicle necessarily involves the adaptation of road infrastructure.
Decarbonize heavy spots
“But one of the main objectives of the electric highway is above all the decarbonization of heavy goods vehicles”, explains Louis du Pasquier, project manager for Vinci Autoroutes. Indeed, they now represent 45% of CO2 emissions from transport, while only corresponding to 15% of road traffic. They transport 90% of goods on the national network.
A problem that the European Commission intends to solve: by 2030, new heavy goods vehicles sold will have to emit 30% less greenhouse gases compared to 2020. If the electric motorization of trucks therefore appears to be a preferred solution , she has a technical problem. “These vehicles tow several tonnes over very long distances. This calls for very large, very expensive and very bulky batteries, says Louis du Pasquier. On the contrary, with electrified roads, trucks would only need range between the depot and the highway. And therefore could afford to have much smaller batteries! »
Projects all over the world
Other countries have already explored the option of the electric highway. Electreon, the Israeli start-up that supplies the induction system to Vinci Autoroutes, has projects in the United States and Italy. The Elonroad consortium, which takes care of the conductor rail system, has been testing this system in Sweden since 2019.
The question of cost remains. Louis du Pasquier recognizes this, “At the moment, it is very expensive”. In 2021, a report on the subject submitted to the Ministry of Transport estimated that it was necessary to count 4 to 5 million euros per kilometer. And Vinci, in collaboration with the firm Altermind, estimates in a study published in 2022 that it would take nearly 60 to 70 billion euros to modernize the 12,000 kilometers of motorways in France.
#France #tests #electric #highway #September