Electric Road Systems: A case study on the bridge of Öresund

Sammanfattning: Combustion of fossil fuels is single-handedly the largest contributor of global warming. The transportation sector is responsible for about a third of the greenhouse gas emissions yearly in Sweden. In turn, road traffic makes up the largest share within the transportation. The Swedish government has set out an ambitious goal to reduce domestic carbon emissions caused by the transportation sector with 70% (compared to 2010) by the year 2030, and as a part of this transformation a commission was formed with the purpose of speeding up the electrification process of heavy-duty traffic as well as the transportation sector. As awareness of the potential benefits of electric vehicles increases, the number of battery-electric vehicles in use are increasing consistently. In 2021, the share of chargeable vehicles in new car sales reached an all-time high in Sweden with 45% of all new car sales being chargeable. However, with the number of electric vehicles rising steadily, a question emerges of how the infrastructure surrounding the charging of the vehicles will work. The electrification of road transportation can be carried out via multiple different strategies: 1) through the use of electric vehicles that charge from static charging, 2) through using alternative fuels produced from clean electricity, and 3) through using dynamic charging through an electric road system. This report aims to explore the possibility of implementing an electric road system on a limited distance, the bridge of Öresund. Traffic flow, charging capability and electrical grid load are all important factors to understand who can benefit from an electric road system, and what is possible in terms of power supply. The cost of an electric road system is finally compared to a system of static charging. The result shows that it is the shorter routes that are driven on a daily basis that can benefit from an electric road system. 150 heavy-duty and 1 140 light-duty trucks are needed to drive on a regular basis in order for the costs of both systems to break even. The cost is heavily based on the battery size and the further away the trucks start from, the less beneficial an electric road system is.