A truck equipped with overhead electric wires is driving on the A5 in Hesse, Germany. (picture alliance/dpa)
The first test drive has been carried out on Germany’s first test track equipped with overhead electric wires for special hybrid trucks. The functional tests for the forthcoming deployment on the A5 in southern Hesse have started, said a spokeswoman for the Hessen Mobil road traffic authority. On Tuesday evening, a hybrid truck was driven on the road for the first time. Initial test drives will be used to check whether everything is working properly. Because the trucks can only drive at walking speed for now, the tests on the normally busy A5, on the section between Frankfurt Airport and Darmstadt, were carried out in the evening and at night.
From mid-2019 onwards, freight companies will use the special vehicles to cover the five-kilometre stretch of the motorway that has overhead wires on both sides. The system, built by Siemens, will be used to test the interaction of the hybrid trucks with other vehicles in traffic. E-trucks can charge their batteries during this part of the journey, so that they can run on electricity for as long as possible after leaving the highway.
The test phase is expected to continue until 2022. Field trials are also planned in the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Württemberg, but their implementation will take a little longer. The "ELISA" project (a German acronym that stands for electrified, innovative heavy goods vehicles on motorways) is intended to help reduce emissions such as CO2 that damage the climate. The German government is providing 14.6 million euros of funding for the planning and construction of the project in Hesse.
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