What is an electric highway? When is India likely to get one?

Monday saw Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announce that the Road Transport Ministry is planning to construct an electric highway between Delhi and Mumbai.

“Our plan is to make an electric highway from Delhi to Mumbai. Just like trolleybuses, you can run trolleytrucks on the highway,” Gadkari, addressing an event organised by the Hydraulic Trailer Owners Association, said.

A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws power from overhead wires, much like the trams of Kolkata.

Trolleybuses have been a major component of public transport in major European cities, and have been vital in curbing the usage of private ICE vehicles, and curbing pollution in Europe.

But what is an electric highway? And when is India likely to get one?

Let’s take a closer look:

What is it?

An electric highway is an electrically-augmented road.

It generally refers to a road which supplies power to vehicles travelling on it, either by using overhead power lines or by using power lines that have been set into pre-cut grooves, on the road itself.

Fleetevolution.com describes an electric highway thus:

“A series of electric cables and electromagnetic transmitters buried underneath the surface of the road generate electromagnetic fields. This energy is picked up by a coil inside the vehicle, inducing voltage which can then be used to charge the battery, which could extend the car’s range.”

What are its benefits?

Electric highways could turn efficient cars into much more than a commuting vehicle, as per the website. The power transfer could potentially work for any vehicle fitted with the right equipment and with the cables all buried underneath the road, there’s also no risk of collisions or electric shocks.

Such an e-highway would also help India reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and thus achieve its climate sustainability goals.

 

The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will include a separate electric highway lane, Gadkari had told Mint in March 2021.

As per News18, Gadkari during a parliamentary session had said that the government is attempting to build a separate “e-highway" on the 1,300-kilometre-long Delhi-Mumbai Expressway where trucks and buses may go at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour.

The Print had reported in June 2021 that a pilot project would be rolled out on the NH 48 — specifically, the 200-km-long Delhi-Jaipur stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway with 20 per cent of the roads electrified and a separate lane catering to the recharging needs of trucks and other electric vehicles.

The Print, quoting an official in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), had said that The Centre has been planning such a project — modelled on a Swedish one — for a while now, but that it was still in a preliminary stage.

Gadkari was quoted by PTI as saying last year, “It is my dream to build an electric highway from Delhi to Jaipur. It is still a proposed project. We are in discussion with a foreign company".

Examples in other countries

As per The Print, Sweden in 2018 opened the world’s first electrified road that recharges the batteries of cars and trucks driving on it.

In 2019, Germany introduced the first electric highway on its motorway system to recharge hybrid trucks on the go. It was built by Siemens and was six miles long, just south of Frankfurt.

As per News18, Munich-based Siemens Mobility provides hybrid trucks that use a pantograph to draw electricity from an overhead wire in a manner similar to a tram. The method employs 670-volt direct-current overhead cables.

As per Fleetevolution.com, a prototype zero-emission highway using overhead cables, much like a tram or city train, is under construction in Los Angeles.

The South Korean town of Gumi in 2013 saw 7.5m electrified route launched for buses with the compatible equipment, as per the website.

Pilot projects of the Siemens system are expected at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with an aim to reduce smog in California.

As per PC Mag, Siemens in 2012 started trials in Germany that work like trolley cars. Hybrid diesel-electric trucks are fitted with rods that are raised when entering the roads with overhead electric lines at speeds up to 60 mph.

When the overhead wire is connected, the trucks can only be powered by electricity. They switch back to their hybrid engines as they re-enter the main highway. So, if a driver veered left or right while still attached to the cables, they would not disengage, as per the website.

Germany, Italy and Sweden are supporting research projects with the ultimate aim of building an electrification infrastructure that could cover parts of the highway network in Europe, as per Volkswagen.com.

The website quoted Claes Erixon, Scania’s executive vice ­president research and development as saying the company sees electric roads as one of several promising technologies that can make long-haul transport a sustainable future.

“Vehicle electrification is developing quickly and with its environmental, social and cost benefits, it will play an important role in the shift to a fossil-free transport system,” Erixon said.

‘Request vehicle owners to use alternative fuels’

The Road Transport and Highways Minister further said the government will be spending about Rs 2.5 lakh crore on the electric highway, which should be a major boost to India’s adoption of Electronic Vehicles.

The minister also stated that his ministry has taken a decision to connect all districts across India by four-lane roads.

At the event, he also urged users of heavy vehicles to move towards alternative fuels like ethanol, methanol and green hydrogen so as to help tackle the problem of pollution. “I request heavy vehicle owners to use alternative fuels like ethanol, methanol and green hydrogen as they are cost-effective and import substitutes.”

Taking cognisance of the issues that heavy vehicle owners are facing because of corruption in state Regional Transport Offices, the Minister also announced that they will soon start working on digitising all services provided by RTOs.

The minister admitted that heavy vehicle owners are facing problems because of corruption in state Regional Transport Offices (RTOs).

“So, we have to digitise all services provided by RTOs,” he added.

The minister said his aim to is to reduce road accidents and deaths. Observing that there is need to be cautious about road safety, he said “we need trained drivers”.

The minister added that as a fast growing economy, India needs all kinds of transportation.

Gadkari also said logistics cost in India is high compare to that in China, European Union and the US.

With inputs from agencies

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