Sweden built the world’s first stretch of electric road

Charging ports be damned. The world’s first electric road is now open in Sweden. The road stretches for 1.2 miles between Stockholm and Arlanda Airport and charges vehicles as they move.

The small piece of road, which reportedly cost more than $1 million per kilometer to build, runs via a system of underground rails that transfer electricity to cars. A movable arm rises out of the road and attaches to the underside of cars to pass the charge. Hans Säll, chief executive of eRoadArlanda told the Guardian: “There is no electricity on the surface. There are two tracks, just like an outlet in the wall. Five or six centimeters down is where the electricity is.”

The rails are only powered when a vehicle is moving, and the system can track how much energy is used by each car and pass along the costs to the corresponding vehicle and user. Sweden says it plans to outfit more of its roads with the technology—good news for anyone who’s had to plan their trip around finding a charging station.

eRoadArlanda

Via: The Guardian, Inhabitat