Electric Road System (ERS) is a technology concept that has the potential to dramatically reduce the fossil fuel dependency in the transport system. ERS is defined by electric power transfer from the road to the vehicle while the vehicle is in motion, and could be achieved through different power transfer technologies from the road to the vehicle, such as rail, overhead line, and wireless solutions. The basic technologies for power transfer from the road to vehicles in motion have been developed through various international research projects. In recent years, ERS has moved from conceptual idea to real-world application in countries such as Sweden (2016 and 2018), the United States of America (California 2017), and Germany (2019). In addition, projects are being planned in Italy and China.

National and international freight transports in Europe are usually determined by national and EU strategies and regulations. The success of ERS implementation, especially when it comes to a transnational roll-out, depends on using regulatory frameworks to identify areas where adaptation is needed.

The work in the CollERS project has included a consideration of ERS in national and EU transport strategies. The present report relates to identification of areas where standards are missing or have to be adapted, as well a stakeholder dialogue (Germany, Sweden, Denmark and EU), e.g. by means of expert interviews at national and EU-level (industry, science, politics, and road administrations).

Due to the many remaining obstacles before reliability and safety can sufficiently be guaranteed for high-level automated vehicles (AVs), teleoperation or remote operation of partially automated vehicles by a human driver has become increasingly interesting to consider. However, remote operation, including remote driving, has so far only received little attention in legal scientific and transportation literature. This paper aims to establish some basic legal matters for remote driving by examining its regulatory development in three different jurisdictions. A combination of methods is employed including an examination of literature regarding AVs and their regulation. The main result is that current regulation in the examined jurisdictions intentionally addresses a future with high-level AVs, but to a large extent excludes regulatory details for remote operation. In conclusion, this paper argues that both present and coming regulation for automated vehicles ought to be more near future-oriented and address the concept of remote operation more explicitly. This, for regulation to be better in touch with current technology, for the benefit of a wider acceptance in society, for legal certainty, but also for innovation support and stability for investments in technology. © 2021 IEEE.

As electric road system (ERS) technologies continue to reach higher levels of maturity, the need for standardisation of the field appears comparable to many other technically oriented areas.

Standards can not only support industrial production and increase the opportunities for dissemination of innovations, they can also contribute to product safety, reliability, and a certain level of product quality. These are common arguments for standardisation of technologies, and they also apply readily to ERS. Standardisation is moreover essential for the interoperability, compatibility, and competitiveness of ERS, specifically from the perspective of facilitating a faster deployment of electric road systems as a promising future solution to replace the dominant position of fossil powered freight transport. Although currently under discussion, standardisation for ERS is however still only at the initial drafting phase.

The purpose of this study was to increase knowledge of standardisation to promote the development of electric road systems. During the project a mapping was carried out to create an overview of standards that are directly or indirectly central for ERS in the area of intelligent transport systems (ITS). The study employed a combination of methods including an examination of ERS literature and ITS standards, a stakeholder workshop, and expert reviews of a tentative listing of ITS standards that are potentially applicable to ERS. The main result is a preliminary inventory of 111 ITS standards, including standards for electronic fee collection (EFC), where 99 standards have been deemed as potentially applicable to ERS.

In this report we explore the situation in China vis-à-vis battery-swapping technology, its history, the current level of achievements, direction of the technology and its implications for society. We have chosen to explore battery-swapping solutions because they are complementary to stationary charging piles, and because their introduction in China has been ongoing since 2010. We want to understand the motivation, drives and barriers to this development and explore the underlying technical as well as the business aspects of establishing and expanding these new solutions. As researchers, it is our ambition to explore and understand the underling aspects, motives and drivers as well as conditions, challenges and consequences, in this case, the introduction of battery-swapping systems. Battery-swapping is not new. It was explored in Europe, Israel and the USA before China took the initiative to develop large scale swapping systems. This is explored in the Appendix to provide a historical and context-based understanding of its origin and global status in order to better understand the Chinese situation. Our focus is initially on new energy vehicles (NEV), more specific the segment of small electric cars. We are aware that there are also buses, trucks, heavy duty vehicles, small sized two- and three wheelers etc. that use battery-swapping technology, however, they are not focused upon in this paper.

The Swedish government has prioritized achieving a fossil fuel-independent vehicle fleet by 2030 which will require radical transformation of the transport industry. Electrifying the vehicle fleet forms an important part of this transformation. For light vehicles, electrification using batteries and charging during parking is already well advanced. For city buses, charging at bus stops and bus depots is being developed, but for heavy, long-distance road transport, batteries with enough capacity to provide sufficient range would be too cumbersome and too much time would have to be spent stationary for charging.

One solution might be the introduction of electric roads, supplying the moving vehicle with electricity both to power running and for charging. In the longer term, this approach could also be used for light vehicles and buses.

The objective of the Research and Innovation Platform for Electric Roads was to enhance Swedish and Nordic research and innovation in this field, this has been done by developing a joint knowledge base through collaboration with research institutions, universities, public authorities, regions, and industries.

The work of the Research and Innovation Platform was intended to create clarity concerning the socioeconomic conditions, benefits, and other effects associated with electric roads. We have investigated the benefits from the perspectives of various actors, implementation strategies, operation and maintenance standards, proposed regulatory systems, and factors conducive of the acceptance and development of international collaborative activities.

The project commenced in the autumn of 2016 and the main research continued until December 2019, the work during year 2020 has been focused on knowledge spread and coordination with the Swedish-Germany research collaboration on ERS (CollERS). The results of the Research and Innovation Platform have been disseminated through information meetings, seminars, and four annual international conferences. Reports have been published in the participating partners’ ordinary publication series and on www.electricroads.org. The project was funded by Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation (FFI) and the Swedish Transport Administration.

The Swedish government has prioritized achieving a fossil fuel-independent vehicle fleet by 2030 which will require radical transformation of the transport industry. Electrifying the vehicle fleet forms an important part of this transformation. For light vehicles, electrification using batteries and charging during parking is already well advanced. For city buses, charging at bus stops and bus depots is being developed, but for heavy, long-distance road transport, batteries with enough capacity to provide sufficient range would be too cumbersome and too much time would have to be spent stationary for charging.

One solution might be the introduction of electric roads, supplying the moving vehicle with electricity both to power running and for charging. In the longer term, this approach could also be used for light vehicles and buses.

The objective of the Research and Innovation Platform for Electric Roads was to enhance Swedish and Nordic research and innovation in this field, this has been done by developing a joint knowledge base through collaboration with research institutions, universities, public authorities, regions, and industries.

The work of the Research and Innovation Platform was intended to create clarity concerning the socioeconomic conditions, benefits, and other effects associated with electric roads. We have investigated the benefits from the perspectives of various actors, implementation strategies, operation and maintenance standards, proposed regulatory systems, and factors conducive of the acceptance and development of international collaborative activities.

The project commenced in the autumn of 2016 and the main research continued until December 2019, the work during year 2020 has been focused on knowledge spread and coordination with the Swedish-Germany research collaboration on ERS (CollERS). The results of the Research and Innovation Platform have been disseminated through information meetings, seminars, and four annual international conferences. Reports have been published in the participating partners’ ordinary publication series and on www.electricroads.org. The project was funded by Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation (FFI) and the Swedish Transport Administration.

Electric road systems (ERS) can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. The market-ready ERS drive systems are characterised by high energy efficiency and low operational costs compared to fossil fuels and biofuels for combustion engines.

The introduction of ERS will depend on governmental support, balancing the overall need for GHG-reduction with the business perspectives of the transport market and the energy market.

There is an urgent need to establish standards for core components and important interfaces in order to build confidence among potential ERS users.

Since ERS will take time to scale up, we should begin to transform the electricity system to meet the demand for ERS while also meeting GHG reduction goals aligned with strong climate policies.

There is a need to clarify whether an ERS system is part of the road infrastructure market or the energy market, and to define the role of the public sector in ERS deployment.

Since a significant part of long-haul road freight transport is international, ERS deployment will benefit from cross-country cooperation.

The present study aims at discussing relevant aspects for a potential roll-out of Electric Road Systems (ERS) on transnational corridors, as well as generally for ERS introduction in Europe.

Feasibility criteria have thus been developed in order to assess the following topics for specific potential ERS corridor projects:

• Technical aspects: Which technical prerequisites exist for ERS corridors and to which extent can they expected to be met?
• Environmental aspects: Which effects can be expected on key environmental indicators?
• Economic aspects: Can an ERS corridor pose a business case? Could it contribute to the improvement of ERS economy in general?
• Political aspects: Would an ERS corridor implementation make sense from a political point of view?

The developed criteria may serve as a toolbox for scrutinizing future transnational ERS corridor projects. In order to illustrate their application, we used them to analyse a potential roll-out of an Electric Road System on a selected highway corridor (424 km) connecting Sweden and Germany, but mainly located on Danish territory. Based on traffic flows and patterns along the corridor route, it was found:

• A considerable part of the total truck mileage on the corridor is done by vehicles with a rather limited driving distance for pre- and post-haul, assuming the corridor is realized as a stand-alone project, and
• the CO₂ emissions (well-to-wheel) of truck traffic along the corridor route can be significantly reduced if electric trucks are powered by the national electricity mixes expected for the year 2030, and even more if it would be powered purely renewable.

Although a continuous ERS on the complete corridor route would not be economically feasible under current conditions, the analysis pinpoints sections along the route where the traffic volumes with a sufficient share of operation on a potential ERS are significantly higher. These sections are located in the metropolitan areas of Malmö, Copenhagen and Hamburg. For implementation, peculiarities of the local markets and regulation should be considered, as well as country-specific priorities on decarbonizing road freight transport. Additionally, the identified ERS potential for medium distances will depend on the technical and cost development of battery trucks.

Our analysis also sheds some light on the role of first transnational corridors within a European roll-out strategy for ERS. Such corridor projects could help to

• proof the principal strengths of ERS,
• trigger strategic coordination between the participating countries,
• foster national ERS roll-out due to synergy effects with the corridor and
• pave the way for integration of ERS into EU legislation (e.g. AFID, TEN-T planning)

Batteries is one of the main systems of electric vehicle. Batteries determine the total performance and define the capabilities of the electric vehicle regardless it is a passenger vehicle or heavy truck. Batteries are also determining the total price of the electric vehicle to large extend. In this report we are focusing on the technology development in historic perspective of the last 15 years in China. We see that the lithium-ion technology is the dominant technology, but we also see new emerging battery technologies that might be the game changer for the performance of electric vehicles. We demonstrate the dynamics of main battery technologies, LFP (lithium iron manganese, LiFeO4, battery cell) battery and NMC (lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide battery cell) battery, the distribution of installed volumes between LFP and NMC in the Chinese market.

In 2020, there were about 360 million vehicles in China, of which 270 million were passenger vehicles, accounting for 75% of the total number of motor vehicles, while the new energy vehicle population was 4.17 million, a year-on-year increase of 9.45%. According to the forecast of the State Grid Electric Vehicle Company, the number of electric vehicles in China will reach 300 million in 2040. This paper mainly conducts research in the field of wireless power transmission for static and dynamic charging of electric vehicles in China.

 To achieve successful transportation electrification, we need to understand the role of different vehicle charging solutions. This report focuses on conductive technology that involves the physical exchange of empty batteries with fully charged ones, an approach called battery swapping. The battery swapping alternative has garnered great interest in China and many other developing economies in recent years, particularly for two- and three-wheeled vehicles. This battery swapping approach is now tackling the heavy vehicle sector, such as trucks and buses. As a result, this approach to “refueling” electric vehicles is important to explore, and we need to understand the conditions needed for battery swapping to succeed. In this report we focus on the use of battery-swapping technology to develop and market Electric Heavy Trucks (EHT) in China.