Analyzing the Societal Cost of Electric Roads Compared to Batteries and Oil for All Forms of Road Transport

Hasan Huseyin Coban,Aysha Rehman,Abdullah Mohamed

doi:10.3390/en15051925

Hasan Huseyin Coban, Aysha Rehman + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en15051925

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Abstract

This article is designed to demonstrate that electric roads are an affordable way to electrify all forms of road transport—not only cars, but also buses and trucks. Electric roads represent a way to power electric vehicles without relying solely on batteries. The idea is that when an electric vehicle reaches an electric road, it stops using power from the battery and instead uses power directly from the road itself. The primary challenge for electric vehicles is still the perception of a compromised quality of life in owning an electric vehicle due to a limited range compared with petrol and diesel cars, today. This paper introduces a new technology, currently experiencing rapid development, that can not only overcome range anxiety but make electric vehicles better, in terms of range, than petrol and diesel cars today. Furthermore, not only can this research help to arrange this, but it can also help, for the first time, to cost-effectively electrify heavy-duty transport, such as trucks and buses, which would be a huge breakthrough in terms of sustainability, as it is very important to start supplying electricity to heavy-duty vehicles. The case study provides a very hypothetical example of a trip with and without an electric road, covering a total of 26,011 km of highways and main roads. The results indicate that building electric roads is cheaper than many other alternatives. If a large battery is replaced with a smaller battery for each new vehicle sold, after 3 years, enough savings will be made to electrify all highways and main roads in Turkey. This paper can help transport operators and policymakers develop strategies to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by appropriately implementing electric road infrastructure.

Highlights

Road-bound conductive: In the second scenario, the overhead electric road system is replaced by a conductive solution, which is not an overhead line but a road-bound solution that is expected to be less expensive in terms of infrastructure
The purpose of this work was to investigate whether roads can be developed and made smarter to promote greener, more electric vehicle traffic, and better energy distribution in the road area
One of the main goals of ERSs is to reduce vehicle costs by reducing the size of the battery required in electric vehicles

Summary

Introduction

The horse and buggy had still reigned supreme as the mode of transportation of choice, but a relative newcomer, the automobile, was about to become all the rage in the early 1900s. Everything looked different; the transition from horse to horsepower ushered in a complete infrastructural change that rippled through every sector imaginable and made our modern world possible. A century later, are we on the cusp of another transformation of magnitude? The world pretty much agrees on the basic idea that it needs to cease using fossil fuels and move toward more sustainable solutions to modern needs [1]. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the world has been witnessing a shift from hydrocarbon sources to sustainable clean energy sources in the energy age. Energy determines the strategies of international actors, and Turkey aims to be an energy center [2]

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