India’s 1st Electric Highway Will Be Built Between Delhi-Mumbai: 1300 Kms Long, 120Kmph Speed, 100% Electric!

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government wants to build an e-Highway from Delhi to Mumbai, on a 1300 km road where trucks and buses may go at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour.

Here, the E stands for ‘Electric’.

E-highways will be able to provide high voltage to vehicles while they are on the move.

Charging while travelling

This will enable electric or hybrid vehicles to move long distances without having to stop for charging since charging will take place on the go.

This makes it an energy-efficient option where the road provides electricity to moving vehicles mostly through overhead power lines.

There can be multiple versions of an e-Highway.

Germany project

One version is being tested in Germany in which there will be a dedicated lane on the highway with high-tension electric cables running through the length of the road.

Compatible buses and trucks will be able to connect to these electric cables in order to derive power.

An advantage is that there won’t be any need for tracks, which have been seen in the case of metro rail or trams.

Overtaking Germany?

Currently the world’s longest electric highway is in Berlin, which stretches over 109 km.

If the government goes through its plan to have an ‘electric highway’ stretch, similar to the one in Sweden, then India will have the world’s largest electric highway.

The proposed project is likely to be on the lines of what Siemens is doing.

Adopting Siemens model?

In 2012, engineering giant Siemens announced its eHighway concept which involved trucks powered by electricity from electric lines over the road.

It ran trucks with conductors on top that would make contact with overhead electric lines on e-highways in Europe.

The electricity would power the trucks’ electric drive motors, shutting the diesel engines.

The diesel engines would restart when the trucks left the lanes with overhead wires.

Advantages 

It reportedly cuts energy consumption by half thereby substantially reducing air pollution.

For India, such highways will give a boost to the electric vehicles market.

India’s climate sustainability goals will also get a fillip.

The country’s aims to have 30 per cent of the private automobiles, 70 per cent of the commercial vehicles, 40 per cent of buses and 80 per cent of two- and three-wheelers be electric by 2030.