In-Motion Charging on the Pennsylvania Turnpike

Purpose and goal

Road transport produces 23% of US GHGs and segments such as long-haul trucks, coaches, and cars without private charging lag in BEV uptake due to high costs. Electric Road Systems (ERS) supply energy while driving, cutting battery size, costs and grid peaks, to improve economics across the ecosystem. This project develops decision support for tollway operators, starting with the Pennsylvania Turnpike, to plan ERS investments and to create a beachhead for wider ERS scale-up.

Expected effects and result

Decision support generated and shared by the project will hopefully allow Pennsylvania Turnpike to create a beachhead for ERS in the US, unlocking wider East Coast and global scale-up. While US impacts aren’t yet quantified, ERS has been estimated to enable EU cumulative emissions reductions by up to 10 Gt CO2-eq.

Planned approach and implementation

Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) origin-destination matrices and GPS data will be used to understand traffic patterns. ERS utilization, costs, revenue and interaction/network effects will be studied with RISE´s simulation tool MOSTACHI. Major customer segments will be interviewed to understand driving profiles and ERS value. Industry project members will produce an ERS deployment handbook to assist other road operators with ERS feasibility studies and deployments.