Siemens to build ‘eHighway’ in Germany to charge electric trucks

Siemens has been tasked with building a 10km stretch of overhead contact lines on one of Germany’s autobahns to allow trucks to temporarily drive on electric power only while also charging their batteries. The ‘eHighway’ project involves overhead power lines similar to the ones used by electric trams and trains, which allows hybrid trucks to drive up to 90km/h while creating zero emission. Similar systems have already been installed in Sweden and California. Siemens claims that if 30 per cent of Germany’s truck traffic is electrified and supplied with renewables, the eHighway could save nearly six million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.