Opportunities for electric road systems in road freight economics

A discussion paper from the CollERS2 project

Authors: Matts Andersson, Erik Johansson, Julius Jöhrens, Moritz Mottschall

This discussion paper (DP) is the result of an international collaboration on ERS research called the CollERS2 project. The DPs are written in a joint context: DP1 covers technological aspects, DP2 covers standardisation and legal aspects, and DP3 (this paper) covers the use of ERS and economic aspects. The first part of this paper addresses the socioeconomic aspects of an ERS. Since the benefits of ERS depend to a large extent on existing environmental policy, we describe relevant policy measures and context. This includes the regime for charging users, which is an important factor in determining socioeconomic profitability of ERS. The second part of this paper deals with the specific strategic conditions for the use of ERS in different European countries. The road freight transport taking place in the respective country is characterised and, based on the economic and fiscal framework conditions, the economic efficiency of different propulsion technologies is compared from the operator's point of view in terms of TCO. In addition, the section looks at the countries' strategies for greenhouse gas reduction in the transport sector.