Great interest in Elonroad's technology

In 2024, work on the 850-metre electric road was completed Evolution Road in Lund. The project used conductive technology to charge vehicles on the fly, first a bus but then also other electric vehicles. The electric road proved to be able to benefit electrified transport with reduced climate emissions as a result, for example through the time-saving way of charging on the move and by reducing the battery size in vehicles.

The technology is developed by the Swedish company Elonroad in collaboration with Lund University of Technology. In order to carry out an advanced test on a public road, the collaboration of several actors — such as project leaders, was required Innovation Skåne, Kraftringen Energi AB, Lund Municipality, Ramboll, Skånetrafiken, Solaris Sweden AB as well as State Road and Transport Institute VTI.

- From the very beginning, we had the support of the university, Kraftringen and Future by Lund, says Per Löfberg at Elonroad. We identified which additional actors were needed. We saw that we had the opportunity to do something disruptive with great potential. Many understood that they had a special knowledge that was necessary.

Elonroad was formed ten years ago and the company now has about thirty employees. Initially, the sights were set on electric roads in regular traffic, but gradually more possibilities have appeared. The technology fits in closed systems in ports, mines and warehouses. But it is also possible to have rails where vehicles stop to load and unload, thus achieving a seamless and fast stationary charge. Elonroad also collaborates with vehicle manufacturers to develop the equipment needed in the vehicles to be able to charge via the rail.

At the Port of Long Beach, California, Elonroad has been selected to provide charging solutions to reduce carbon emissions, both through electric road and stationary charging stations.

- This is a very important project for Elonroad. If we succeed at the Port of Long Beach, we can help set a new standard for how ports can work with the climate transition,” says Per Löfberg.

At the same time, Elonroad has a long line of other ongoing collaborations. Elonroad is building an electric road at an innovation centre in Ljungby and an automatic charging system for heavy-duty electric vehicles will be implemented at the Port of Oslo. Just outside Paris, Elonroad has been commissioned by the French state to install a two-kilometre stretch on the A10 motorway.

- This is reminiscent of the test in Lund in that there are many parties involved. The French state is testing not only us, but also technologies from Electreon and Alstom. If this goes well, France could adopt a new strategy for electric roads.

In addition to all the collaborations already started, there is a lot of interest in both Singapore and India.

- There are still some technical issues to solve and we need to hire more — but so far we have solved all the challenges that arise. We see that this can go either way,” concludes Per Löfberg.