To see clearly and collect data before charting a future for the electric road or not, the State is financing, as part of France 2030, three consortia led by motorway operators chosen in 2023. On the A10, near Saint-Arnoult (Yvelines), Vinci Autoroutes will deploy two different techniques over two times 1 kilometer: induction and conduction.
With Vinci Construction, Electreon and Hutchinson, the aim is to create an electromagnetic field under the track captured by a coil fixed under the vehicle. With conduction, electricity is provided by a rail inserted in the bitumen, the vehicle connecting to it via a contact pad. Gustave Eiffel University and Cerema will participate in this experiment. Total budget: 26 million euros, mainly financed by Bpifrance. “This project will be the first in the world of its kind on a highway,” boasts the operator.
However, it is not the only one. For 21 million euros, the public concessionaire Autoroutes et tunnel du Mont-Blanc (ATMB), which brings with it Alstom, Greenmot and Transpolis, will also test conduction, downstream of Chamonix, on a demanding playing field: 2 kilometers on the RN 205 located at an altitude of 1,000 meters with a slope of 4%. The opportunity to observe if the device resists snow plow blades and brine.
Evaluate the costs
Beyond the technical issues (contact, power delivered), it is a question of understanding “the general economy of the system by getting an idea of the costs of construction, power supply, maintenance, operation”, list Florian Grange innovation and development project manager at ATMB. Another essential aspect, the user. “Today a carrier knows exactly how much it costs him to travel 1 km, we must be able to promise him the same visibility with an electric vehicle,” he adds.
What about the catenary? Unless there is any surprise, this technique favored by Germany will not a priori be tested in France. One thing is certain, with its host of constraints, the electric road is far from unanimously supported in the motorway Landernau. The other two historic networks don’t believe it. “We ultimately did not respond to this call for projects,” explains Frédéric Nourry, president of Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône (APRR). Sanef ignored this solution from the start “too expensive and complex”.
You are reading an article from L’Usine Nouvelle 3728 – March 2024
Read the summary
