The automotive industry is on a roller-coaster ride to innovation and emerging technology. There was a time when electric cars were rarely seen on the road and feature only in auto exhibitions, but today, electric and hybrid vehicles are common across the world. That said; the number of registered electric cars in 2017 in the UK only was 47,000.

So what can we expect from automotive innovation? Nowadays, driverless cars are a buzz, but then there’s Sweden where yet another fascinating development just happened; none other than the world’s first electrified road that has been inaugurated new the capital city of Stockholm. If spread across the world, it can potentially change our way to pick vehicles and how we drive.

A look at the electrified road

Electrified roads are designed to power up electric vehicles by transferring energy from the road rails which keeps the automobiles charged as they move. A small, flexible joint is fixed right under the vehicle’s body which can self-disconnect in case the driver wishes to overtake, thereby moving away from the two rails of the electric-powered tracks.

The system in Sweden is far more complicated than it seems which can disconnect the electricity when the car stops or when driver overtakes other vehicles as well as accurately track the total electricity consumed by each vehicle. It’s most unfortunate that this electric power isn’t free of cost but, there’s a possibility that other countries would roll out the charging system for free.

Charging electric vehicles – Overcoming the challenges

The primary goal of this Swedish project is to cope with the out-of-charge problem allowing drivers to travel between 100-and-200 miles on a single full charge but then, every vehicle has a different battery which varies the electric mileage as well. Some of the reports even highlighted that a particular model of electric car travels only 60% of the promoted mileage which sums up to 55 miles approximately before recharge.

The fact can discourage car buyers even those who wish to invest in eco-friendly vehicles. In Sweden, it’s expected that vehicle manufacturing cost would drop eventually which will ease the electric charge cost as well. This way, more people would be able to buy electric cars having average-sized batteries requiring a less-than-normal charge. The concept reflects to ‘dynamic charging’ that can shave off significant expenses.

Complementing to the environmental goals

Sweden still has a long way to go when fossil fuel reduction is concerned and to meet the goal; the nation requires cutting down more or less 70% fossil fuel consumption from the overall transportation sector. This is perhaps the primary driver behind introducing the world’s first electrified road. Streamlining production of electric cars would make life easier by reducing the charge cost.

Safety concern

Safety concerns on electrical railways and roads pose life-threatening danger to pedestrians as a single touch can be fatal, however; this particular issue has been solved even before the road was constructed in Sweden. Since electricity supply is underground, the surface is hardly registered to just one volt whereas the Swedish government also claims safety of the people even if they walk barefoot on these tracks.

If rolled out on a global scale, electrified roads can change the way we purchase and manage truck tyres in Dubai or any other place for the best of all.