Electreon Extends and Expands Swedish Wireless In-Road Charging Pilot

Electreon, which makes in-road wireless electric vehicle charging tech, has announced a one-year extension of its Smartroad pilot project in Gotland, Sweden.

The Swedish Transport Administration has funded the €2 million extension, which also includes an upgrade of 400 metres of the existing infrastructure. 

Electreon will also extend the run of the electric airport shuttle bus currently using the charging system. The bus will continue to undergo testing and will also be available for public commercial rides in the summer.

“The team at Smartroad Gotland is excited for the one-year extension of this project and for the opportunity to demonstrate the continued endurance of our wireless charging technology in Swedish weather,” said Håkan Sundelin, director of the Nordic Region at Electreon and project manager for Smartroad Gotland.

“The planned large scale electric road pilot in Sweden, in addition to the French government’s decision to fund pilots for wireless charging roads, shows high demand for Electreon’s technology in Europe.” 

As part of the project extension, Electreon will increase the capacity of its receivers to transfer energy at around 30 kW. This upgrade, according to the company, will demonstrate that its wireless charging infrastructure can be upgraded over time.

After the upgrade is complete, the long-haul electric truck and electric bus which have been using the wireless in-road charging will continue to undergo testing.

The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) will perform third-party endurance and stress tests to verify that Electreon’s technology and charging coils are unaffected by road construction and heavy-duty truck use.

Additional third-party endurance tests of Electreon’s wireless charging technology are currently being performed as part of the BASt project in Germany and the Arena of the Future project in Italy.

Electreon’s VP of Commercial Development, Asaf Maman, told Auto Futures in February that the company’s in-road system is the “optimal long-term EV charging solution. The company is also looking to set up shop in Detroit later this year.