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Video length: 2 min.
Battery charging time is an obstacle to converting to electric for many French people. It will soon be possible to recharge while driving, since a section of the A10 will be equipped. In Germany, another system is being tested for trucks.
It’s a mix of highway and railroad. Here, no rails but catenaries and locomotive-like trucks. Near Frankfurt (Germany), Paul Mühlberger, truck driver, uses an electrified section of five kilometers every day. The truck, equipped with a hybrid engine, starts to run on electricity thanks to a pantograph. Only one day of training is required. “It’s a little less noisy than a combustion engine. Otherwise, I don’t see the difference”he confides.
Recharge the batteries
The power supply allows the truck to drive, but also to recharge its batteries without stopping. For four years, already 500,000 kilometers have been traveled on this test section. On this road near Berlin (Germany), tests are frequent to improve the system and make it less expensive. The new sections, currently under construction, cost more than 1.5 million euros per kilometer, largely financed by public money.