Published

Germany to Test High-Wire Act for Hybrid Trucks on Autobahn

Siemens AG says it has won a contract to build an overhead electrical contact line to test a system for hybrid commercial trucks on the autobahn.
#hybrid

Share

Siemens AG says it has won a contract to build an overhead electrical contact line to test a system for hybrid commercial trucks on the autobahn.

The program, which is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, will cover a 10-km (6-mile) section of the autobahn near the Frankfurt airport. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

Specially equipped commercial trucks will connect to the power lines via a pantograph that will allow them to operate in all-electric mode. Immediately upon detaching from the overhead electric wire, the trucks will be revert back to their diesel engine.

The so-called “ehighway” hybrid technology promises to be twice as efficient as a stand-alone combustion engine, according to Siemens. The company developed the system in 2012 and piloted tested it last year on a 2-km (1.2-mile) section of road in Stockholm.

RELATED CONTENT

  • GAC, CATL Partner on Two Battery Ventures

    Two new battery ventures are being formed in China by domestic carmaker Guangzhou Automobile Group Ltd. and battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd.

  • Bolt EV: Like a Hammer Through a Screen

    Some of you may remember the Apple “1984” commercial that ran on January 22, 1984, the ad that announced the Macintosh to the world.

  • Chevy Develops eCOPO Camaro: The Fast and the Electric

    The notion that electric vehicles were the sort of thing that well-meaning professors who wear tweed jackets with elbow patches drove in order to help save the environment was pretty much annihilated when Tesla added the Ludicrous+ mode to the Model S which propelled the vehicle from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds.

Gardner Business Media - Strategic Business Solutions