The Transpolis site in Ain will host the eRoadMontBlanc project, which aims to develop roads capable of recharging electric trucks. With a second stage of production planned on the RN25, near Chamonix, by 2026-2027.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
What if in a few years the roads were capable of recharging electric trucks? This is the ambition of the eRoadMontBlanc project developed by ATMB (Autoroutes et tunnel du Mont-Blanc), Gustave University Eiffel, Alstom, Pronergy et Greenmot.
The goal is to create an electrified road by ground conduction. Concretely: use the same process as for certain tramways (that of Bordeaux, for example) by equipping the highways with electrical power tracks inserted into the road. An articulated arm, installed under the trucks, would then fit onto a sort of rail, positioned in the middle of the road, in order to recharge their batteries without needing to stop.
“The idea is to be able to reduce the size of the batteries of large electric goods carriers. With the main challenge of decarbonizing the roads, because a third of emissions in France come from road transport,” summarizes Philippe Bonanaud, head of the eRoadMontBlanc project at Gustave Eiffel University. With this technology, electric trucks could then cover large distances without needing huge batteries or stopping every 400 km to recharge the vehicles.
After a long time in the laboratory, the project will be tested on a larger scale during 2025. It will be installed on the Transpolis platform in Ain which allows tests and experiments in the field of intelligent mobility and decarbonized. Some 400 meters of track will therefore be developed to put the project to the test and verify its viability.
If the results are conclusive, the second stage should take place between 2026 and 2027. The goal would then be to partly equip a real road. The RN25 near Chamonix was then chosen, and 1 km of track should be installed in the coming years.
An innovation which also has a cost: more than 20 million euros for the final project. Beyond the roads, it is the trucks themselves that must be equipped with articulated arms for an amount estimated at 10,000 euros per vehicle.
The objective of this project, financed in particular within the framework of France 2030 and by the European Union, is to equip a large part of French motorways. “We are working on optimizing this development to allow trucks to be reloaded only on part of the journey. explains Philippe Bonanaud. In a few years, 80% of the French motorway fleet could be equipped with this innovative technology.
