Benefits of Including Battery Electric Cars in Electric Road Systems: Battery and infrastructure savings

Report, 2021

The newly emerged electric road system (ERS) technology, mainly considered to electrify long-haul trucks, has the advantage of charging passenger battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Using detailed GPS-logged movement patterns for 412 private conventional cars in Sweden, this study models the potential benefits for passenger BEVs using ERS. The study shows that ERS aiming to electrify long-haul trucks can cover most private vehicle trips with home-only stationary charging and small battery ranges (68-101 km), or alternatively eliminate all stationary charging needs for private vehicles with large battery ranges (136-606 km). The study points out that ERS utilization is independent of the total travel distances of car users and depends more on visited locations and residency. The economic benefits from reduced battery capacities with ERS can be large compared to the ERS infrastructure costs, even when BEVs constitute a relatively low share of the vehicle fleet. When planning ERS infrastructure for trucks and buses, the economic benefits from passenger BEVs can be large and therefore can also be considered.