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World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

theguardian.com

51–60 of 104 posts

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#51
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is used for charging batteries, not providing constant power. It disengages on lane change according to the article, but that should not be a problem if there are batteries.

Sure, but you'll be disconnected for that and you're going to have to reconnect on the far side. That's going to cause some arcing and wear. On the plus side, self driving cars will have something to aim for. Provided there isn't any snow or ice to deal with.

I can tell you're an asshole.

(that's what I would have said)

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#52

This doesn't make much sense as an urban project, where chargers are close by, lane-switching is frequent, people are likely to be on the road, and which the article invites you to think about by comparing the cost to an urban tram. but it makes ton of sense for long-distance highway journeys, which is a problem that really needs solving before electric vehicles can be practical.

Although if you had this everywhere, you could probably do away with most of the batteries on electric cars, making them a lot cheaper and lighter.

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#53
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moving goods from the train to the truck is not a negligible cost. Also, you have to move lots of things in batch with the train, which makes product and supply chains unless nimble. Perishable agriculture products, for one thing, benefit greatly from truck transport.

A nimble supply chain, or "just in time" as they call it, is a hack large companies use to shift quantities from one column of their quarterly reports to another that the stock market looks more favourably upon. Analysts can't very well quantify the risk of a JIT supply chain but they know cash flow over finished goods.

That isn't true. It means you need less storage space, and you need less capital tied up in parts you aren't using. It also means your cabbages don't rot.

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#54
post #52

This doesn't make much sense as an urban project, where chargers are close by, lane-switching is frequent, people are likely to be on the road, and which the article invites you to think about by comparing the cost to an urban tram. but it makes ton of sense for long-distance highway journeys, which is a problem that really needs solving before electric vehicles can be practical.

Although if you had this everywhere , you could probably do away with most of the batteries on electric cars, making them a lot cheaper and lighter.

It would never be everywhere at not in somewhere as vast as Europe or US.

To jump on OPs bandwagon. It would make sense to have this on highways as opposed to surface streets. Distance is one of the limiting factors for a lot of people buying electric.

In the US interstates are at least maintained by the Feds and are pretty standard in look and feel. It would probably be easier to implement nationwide.

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#55
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is used for charging batteries, not providing constant power. It disengages on lane change according to the article, but that should not be a problem if there are batteries.

Sure, but you'll be disconnected for that and you're going to have to reconnect on the far side. That's going to cause some arcing and wear. On the plus side, self driving cars will have something to aim for. Provided there isn't any snow or ice to deal with.

Arcing seems trivially prevented by utilizing two-phase connect and disconnect processes. Don't flow current when changing states.

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#56

Why is this considered "the world's first electrified road for charging vehicles"? Compared to https://www.wired.com/2013/08/induction-charged-buses/ for example. Does induction based charging not count as electrified? Is it that the Korean one was for their buses only, not general passenger cars?

The difference is that the one you link has a few induction plates along the route while the other has rails from one end to the other. It's like saying "why do we need electric cars? We already have hybrids!" There are also buses around here that charge at special points along the route. That doesn't make the roads electrified though. Great job from Sweden, no matter if it is world first or not.

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#57
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is used for charging batteries, not providing constant power. It disengages on lane change according to the article, but that should not be a problem if there are batteries.

Sure, but you'll be disconnected for that and you're going to have to reconnect on the far side. That's going to cause some arcing and wear. On the plus side, self driving cars will have something to aim for. Provided there isn't any snow or ice to deal with.

Arcing from a rail that when filled with salt water gives off 1 volts up at road level?

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#58
post #54
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although if you had this everywhere , you could probably do away with most of the batteries on electric cars, making them a lot cheaper and lighter.

It would never be everywhere at not in somewhere as vast as Europe or US. To jump on OPs bandwagon. It would make sense to have this on highways as opposed to surface streets. Distance is one of the limiting factors for a lot of people buying electric. In the US interstates are at least maintained by the Feds and are pretty standard in look and feel. It would probably be easier to implement nationwide.

>In the US interstates are at least maintained by the Feds and are pretty standard in look and feel.

I don't believe that's true. At least in California, CalTrans does all of the maintenance on state and federal highways alike. AFAIK CalTrans does get paid by the Federal government for interstate maintenance, but that's the extent of the USDOT's involvement in interstate maintenance.

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#59
post #35

I hope Sweden and Germany can make a common DIN Deutche industri normen standard for charging electric vehicles on roads. There would be an added benefit if we could build rail tracks among the electric guidance line. Rail tracks to lower the rolling resistance, metal on metal vs rubber on asphalt. We would then have a hybrid car rail track which should make it easy for autonomous driving. The aim would to bring down…

At high velocities (> 40 km/h?) the main drag comes from aerodynamics (turbulence, air viscosity…), not rolling resistance.

Re: World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently they tested just that - Säll said: “There is no electricity on the surface. There are two tracks, just like an outlet in the wall. Five or six centimetres down is where the electricity is. But if you flood the road with salt water then we have found that the electricity level at the surface is just one volt. You could walk on it barefoot.” They also mentioned they turn off each segment if there is not a ca…

They said nothing about the wear characteristics of the rail when covered in salty road crap. Stray current wreaks all sorts of havoc on electric light rail systems. I don't see why this would be different.

It is Sweden. If anyone knows salty road crap it is Scandinavians.
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