Scania to supply trucks for ‘eHighways’

Scania will supply trucks for a research project in Germany to test and develop electric road technology.

The project, officially called “Trucks for German eHighways” and co-financed by the Volkswagen Group and Siemens, aims to reduce carbon emissions from long-haul heavy-duty commercial vehicles.

During 2019 and 2020 electrically powered trucks are to be tested on three new German eHighways – two autobahns and one highway – with electric power supplied from overhead lines.

“For long-haulage transport, Scania sees electric roads as one promising technology for a sustainable transport future,” said Claes Erixon, Executive Vice President
Research and Development, at Scania.

“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.”

In the first phase of the project, Scania will supply two electric hybrid long-haulage prototype trucks with different powertrains: one with a single battery and 15 kWh capacity, and the second will have several batteries for greater capacity.

Similar to Scania’s ongoing trials of electric hybrid trucks on an electric road in Sweden, the German tests will see Scania trucks equipped with a pantograph power collector developed by Siemens mounted on the frame behind the cab.

“Scania will enter this new project with all our experience from the Swedish project. In the German project, the most important research areas will be to analyse and optimise the powertrain concept, energy management, the hybrid transmission, battery ageing and the next generation cooling system,” said Christer Thorén, Project Manager for electric road technology at Scania.