The future is electric with charging infrastructure and electrified roads
NCC is building the future’s sustainable charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Our engagement and offers in charging infrastructure
NCC has built infrastructure for transport since 1875 and we naturally also intend to help build the sustainable roads of the future. We therefore have long-standing partnerships with a number of different actors in relation to charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Since 2011, we have been deeply involved in dynamic charging/electrified roads, largely within the framework of the eRoadArlanda and SmartRoad Gotland projects, giving us globally unparalleled expertise and experience in a new area that is capable of substantially reducing the carbon footprint of road transport.
Alongside our engagement with electrified roads, we have also built up the strategic partnerships we need in order to offer stationary charging solutions.
Overall, this means that we now hold the expertise and experience needed to deliver everything from feasibility studies, project planning and project management to groundwork and civil engineering projects for all types of charging infrastructure.
Background
Road traffic currently accounts for around a third of Sweden’s carbon emissions, with goods transport making up as much as a third of that figure, but the number of electric vehicles and machines is growing rapidly. Current forecasts predict that by 2030, Sweden will have at least 2.5 million electric vehicles on the roads. These will primarily be cars, but relatively fast progress is also being made in the development of electric light and medium goods vehicles, buses and construction machinery.
The size, weight and cost of vehicle batteries make it difficult, with today’s technology, to achieve sufficient range and overall economy for the electrification of heavier vehicles and machinery. With lighter electric vehicles, the key focus is on significantly accelerating expansion of the stationary charging network, although in the long term these vehicles will also require solutions that reduce the need for large, heavy and expensive batteries.
Sweden’s carbon targets and transport needs
Sweden has set the target that by 2030 carbon emissions from domestic transport will be 70% lower than the level of emissions in 2010, and by 2045 the country will be carbon neutral.
These targets can be set against current forecasts indicating a steep rise in transport needs over the foreseeable future, creating a challenging equation that NCC is keen to help resolve.
The solution for road transport
Having a widely established charging infrastructure for electric vehicles has the potential to cut carbon emissions by up to 90% compared with running vehicles only on fossil fuel.
An optimum mix of stationary charging (primarily in urban environments) and dynamic charging (outside urban environments) significantly reduces the need for large and expensive batteries in all types of electric vehicle. Currently, around half the cost of a fully electric car comes down to the batteries.
Sweden has over 400,000 km of roads in total. Calculations suggest that having dynamic charging (electrified roads) on 3,000 to 5,000 km of the roads most used by heavy goods vehicles would halve the total emissions of greenhouse gases from such vehicles in Sweden.
Sweden a world leader in electrified roads
Sweden leads the world in the science of electrified roads and building test tracks with different technical solutions.
The Swedish Transport Administration launched the first precommercial procurement of research into electrified roads in 2013, and in 2017 a national roadmap was drawn up for electrified roads.
The world’s first two test tracks using different technologies for dynamic charging of heavy goods vehicles on public roads have been in operation outside Sandviken (Elväg Gävle) and Arlanda (eRoadArlanda) for some time now, and work is currently underway on another two test tracks – one outside Visby (SmartRoad Gotland) and one in Lund (EVolutionRoad).
Government sets up an Electrification Commission
At Government level and via the Swedish Transport Administration, Sweden has initiated a range of international collaborations on electrified roads in recent years, particularly with Germany and France.
October 2020 saw the Government establish an Electrification Commission for transport, with a mandate to promote the funding of and business models for expediting the power supply to electrified roads and rapid charging infrastructure.
The Swedish Transport Administration has been tasked with planning an expansion of electrified roads along the national road network, with a view to halving emissions of greenhouse gases from heavy goods transport under the target to electrify 2,000 km of roads by 2030 and a further 1,000 km by 2035. At the same time, the Administration will be analyzing the need for charging infrastructure for the rapid charging of heavy goods vehicles along major highways.
eRoadArlanda - how it works
Hans Säll
Business Development, Chairman eRoadArlanda, NCC Infrastructure
Stefan Hörnfeldt
Business Development, responsible coordination NCC eRoad®, NCC Infrastructure
Read more
- Read more about e-roads at eRoadArlanda.com
- Read more about Elways at Elways.se
- Electreon.com
- Read more about Smart Road Gotland