jeffco67
Wow. Idiot trucking companies here in the U.S. that govern their trucks at 62 mph and then run them in 75 mph states are a major aggravation and safety hazard. Can't imagine what kinds of mayhem can be achieved with a 56 mph truck running on the Autobahn. Yay greenies.
f8lee
Here's hoping the truck has internal batteries in case an accident or road conditions require the rig cannot sit directly beneath the cabling...
Gizmowiz
Ugly power lines. Put them in the ground and make slot trucks instead. Dumbest thing ever when Telsa has proved battery powered semi trucks are viable.
Bruce Golden
Is an interesting concept ... likely many folks would object to overhead lines and powered road slots have their own set of issues but supplement with batteries, may well be good solution
alan c
When this system was around over a hundred years ago (moving passengers) it was called a trolleybus. The Scania trucks have a smallish battery and can run without being connected to the overhead wires. No doubt connection and disconnection is now automated and not done by a man with a long wooden pole.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
This sounds like the trolley busses that were common in the 50s.
Mr T
This is pointless for short distance trucking, battery trucks already have that covered and are simpler, more effective, and without the ugly overhead lines. The only place this might get some traction is on long distance routes, but then, the amount of copper and steel required to build such a network would vastly outweigh the resources for making battery trucks and fast chargers I suspect, so there really is no point to this.
Siemens are pushing this idea because it uses the sort of equipment they manufacture, if they were a battery maker they would be pushing battery trucks instead. Unfortunately, bureaucrats and politicians are not technically literate enough to know what's a good idea and what isn't.
Johannes
@jeffco, 56 mph is the maximum connect/disconnect speed, not the maximum driving speed while connected (why do so few people read the linked source article?). And another benefit will be no trucks overtaking each other and blocking both lanes, with the faster truck going a mere 0.5 mph faster than the slower.
SimonClarke
I see major problems with the over head lines, I can't remember where but under surface induction charging has already been proven.
Also why hybrid? designers need to stop thinking engines. a lorry with a 200 mile range would be fine because as soon as it is on the motorway/interstate it would be charging.
Tesla trucks are designed to do 65mph along any stretch of US interstate regardless of the incline.
windykites
Why not use electrified trains to carry dozens of containers for long distance, and collect locally? This gets lorries off the roads.