Next year, Sweden-based truck and bus maker Scania will start testing electric trucks on an electric road.

The Swedish Transport Administration has approved support for the Gävle Electric Road project. The project will demonstrate and evaluate conductive technology, which involves electrical transmission through overhead lines above vehicles equipped with a pantograph power collector.

Envision something like an old-fashioned streetcar, without tracks, and with the ability for the vehicle to operate on regular roads as well.

The investment in the project is part of the Swedish government’s goal of an energy-efficient and fossil-free vehicle fleet by 2030.

Scania’s trucks will operate goods transport services on a 2-kilometer test route, which is being built between the Port of Gävle and Storvik along European highway 16. The trucks are equipped with an electric hybrid powertrain developed by Scania.

Power to the trucks is transferred from overhead lines through a pantograph power collector mounted on the frame behind the cab. This technology has been developed by Siemens, which since 2013 has conducted trials of electrified trucks with Scania at its research facility outside Berlin.