The road ahead is electric

Liu Wenjie

Given the success of its high-speed electric trains, it’s no surprise that China has begun investing in the next big thing in smart transport: electrified roads.

An electrified road is equipped with a power supply system that lets motor vehicles receive continuous power supply from the grid while in motion. Grid electricity is the main power source, with batteries used as a backup.

In 2023, China launched an electrified road project in Shanxi, the country’s top coal-producing province. Heavy-duty electric trucks, the kind increasingly used to haul coal across northern China’s “coal belt” region, use grid power while driving and at the same time charge their onboard batteries.

Like most high-speed electric trains and some trolley cars, the trucks are equipped with a pantograph, a roof-mounted apparatus connected to an overhead power line. As the trucks overtake other vehicles or leave the electrified section of the road, the pantograph retracts automatically, allowing them to switch to internal battery power.

A short history of electric rail and road

German engineers laid the first electrified tracks on the outskirts of Berlin in 1881 to power trams. By 1911, passengers in London began riding on the first trolleybus, which used conventional rubber tires and ran on regular paved roads. By the 1930s, trolleybuses had gained popularity worldwide as a means of reducing traffic congestion in cities.

The idea of electrified highways was first introduced in 2012 as a way to cut carbon emissions. In 2014, an experimental system was tested on a stretch of highway in Los Angeles; two years later, Sweden conducted a similar test for heavy-duty trucks. By 2017, Germany had built a fully equipped, 10-kilometer electrified road.

China has been studying road electrification since 1995. Over the past decade, it has invested heavily in R&D aimed at improving battery capacity and other issues. China’s rapid adoption of new energy vehicles (NEVs) has accelerated this progress. (NEV is the official term adopted by China. It includes pure electric cars, plug-in hybrids that use both a battery and fuel, and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, which are still comparatively rare). Some analysts expect that, by this year or the next, NEVs will account for half of all new passenger car sales.

Needed policy incentives

Static charging methods currently pose limitations for EVs, contributing to the persistent issue of “range anxiety.” Electrified roads offer a solution by providing vehicles with unlimited range potential.

Despite the large up-front capital investment required for road electrification, there is substantial potential for growth. Although the high cost of overhead charging systems poses challenges, deploying those systems in specific settings such as ports, mining sites, and fixed transportation routes could lead to enormous business opportunities. Germany, Sweden, and other countries are at the forefront of converting busy arteries to electrified roads.

But widespread adoption will require strong policy incentives and government support. Several key actions would be helpful:

• Improving vehicle dispatch, charging networks, autonomous driving, efficiency, and safety
• Expanding from heavy-duty logistics to intercity passenger and city cluster transport
• Unifying power supply, vehicle interfaces, and grid integration for seamless operation
• Enabling self-sensing, self-repair, and enhanced digital capabilities for highways.

In China, electrified roads are set to transition from pilot projects to large-scale application in the coming decade. Many areas are already conducting large-scale trials. Examples include Jiangsu's highways for maglev cars, Shandong's solar panel road surface, and Yunnan's combination of a computing center and smart highway system.

Over the longer term, specialized charging roads could provide a solution for both autonomous and electric vehicles. Combined with breakthroughs in battery technology and other advances, this could help make electrified roads a foundational pillar of the world’s low-carbon transportation system

The Mao Yisheng Foundation has proposed establishing an Electrified Road Innovation Alliance to foster comprehensive cooperation across various sectors, including road transport, energy, information, automobiles, materials, and equipment manufacturing. This alliance aims to design key technical and industrial policies and deeply integrate technology into industries.