Electrified roads have the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector. Where long-distance heavy traffic is concerned, there is actually no cheaper alternative which is equally energy-efficient, has such low carbon dioxide emissions and for which the energy supply is assured in Sweden and the rest of Europe. Many questions nevertheless remain.

In this preliminary study we have focussed on the business ecosystem likely to be built up alongside an electrified road. This has been done by means of interviewing interested parties and a thorough review of previous publications. On the basis of this background information, a computation model has been developed to be able to analyse the influence of various parameters. The stretch of 120 kilometre long road between Gävle and Borlänge has been used as a case study but an attempt to find other applicable stretches has also been undertaken. The model has a solid footing with the parties involved in the project and with people who have good insight into financial computations previously undertaken in relation to electrified roads.

The computation model that has been developed is primarily thought of as a model for overall surpluses or deficits for all stakeholders in the business ecosystem. It is not, therefore, a complete socio-economic model, which would include considerably more consequences for society at large, such as the influence on local and national businesses, increased employment and so forth. The model has been developed on the assumption that all prices and values are given for a point in time when the solution is in an ’early commercialisation phase’.

In comparison with diesel routes, it generally applies for electrified roads that every kilometre of road and every vehicle adds extra costs and that every kilometre driven creates savings. Thus for an electrified road system to be profitable, the stretch of electrified road must comprise a significant percentage of the overall distance driven by a truck. Nor must the stretch of road be too short, for then too much time is spent loading/unloading and too few kilometres (where the savings occur) are driven. Following familiarisation with various scenarios, a coherent, highly qualitative judgment, based on the electrified road computation model, would suggest that the suitable characteristics for such roads would be:

• A distance of at least twenty kilometres
• Annual average daily traffic (AADT) for electrified road trucks should be around two times as many as the number of electrified kilometres
• The electrified stretch should comprise 60% percent or more of the trucks’ overall distance driven each year.

For the case of Gävle-Borlänge (120 km), it appears that the stretch will be able to pay for itself, for example, when 190 electrified trucks complete the stretch an average of 4 times per day throughout the year (back and forth twice a day 365 days a year), amounting to 92% of the vehicles’ overall distance being driven on electrified road.