Germany has opened the first electric highway – a 10-kilometer (6-mile) stretch of A5 autobahn – allowing hybrid trucks to recharge while traveling on the country’s main transportation arteries.
One truck is using it now, with four more planned by 2020.
The hybrid trucks connect to overhead wires. The electricity charges up the trucks’s battery, allowing it to drive electrically for a while afterward, with a diesel motor kicking in once the battery is depleted.
The system was built by Munich-based engineering firm Siemens AG, while Volkswagen AG’s Scania trucks unit provided the vehicles.
Read the article at Bloomberg.