Abstract
In this paper we present a method for evaluating social benefits of electric roads and apply it to the Swedish highway network. Together with estimated investments costs this can be used to produce a cost benefit analysis. An electric road is characterized by high economies of scale (high investment cost and low marginal cost) and considerable economies of scope (the benefit per kilometre electric road depends on the size of the network), implying that the market will produce a smaller network of electric roads, or charge higher prices for its use, than what is welfare optimal. For this reason, it is relevant for governments to consider investing in electric roads, making the cost-benefit analysis a key decision support. We model the behaviour of the carriers using the Swedish national freight model system, SAMGODS, determining the optimal shipment sizes and optimal transport chains, including mode and vehicle type. We find that if the user charge is set as to optimize social welfare, the revenue will not fully cover the investment cost of the electric road. If they are instead set to optimize profit, we find that the revenue will cover the costs if the electric road network is large enough. Electric roads appear to provide a cost-effective means to significantly reduce carbon emissions from heavy trucks. In a scenario where the expansion connects the three biggest cities in Sweden, emissions will be cut by one-third of the overall emissions from heavy trucks in Sweden. The main argument against a commitment to electric roads is that investment and maintenance costs are uncertain and that, in the long run, battery development or hydrogen fuel cells can reduce the benefit of such roads.
Highlights
There has been a surge of interest in reducing carbon emissions from heavy trucks in recent years, largely due to ambitious emission targets for transport in many countries as well as in the European Union
Applying a large-scale road network with high spatial resolution is important in the analysis as electric roads are characterized by economies of scale and considerable economies of scope, implying that the market will produce a smaller network of electric roads, or charge higher prices for its use, than what is welfare optimal
We model the behaviour of the carriers using the Swedish national freight model system, SAMGODS, determining the optimal shipment sizes, transport chain and route, including the mode and vehicle type (Diesel60, Hybrid60, Diesel40, Hybrid40, Diesel24)1 choices of the carriers for a given electric road network
Summary
There has been a surge of interest in reducing carbon emissions from heavy trucks in recent years, largely due to ambitious emission targets for transport in many countries as well as in the European Union. While light traffic and probably regional freight dis tribution trucks travelling shorter distances can be electrified using batteries (Jang et al, 2016), this is a bigger challenge for long range heavy trucks. The latter would need heavy batteries or frequent recharging incurring delays. There are some previous studies undertaking cost-benefit exercises of continuous electricity transmission, reviewed in Jang (2018). Most of these typically analyse one road stretch or highway assuming a few given origin–destination pairs. In this paper we present a method for evaluating social benefits of electric roads for heavy traffic, applied to a large-scale road network and real transport flows, and apply it (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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