Delhi-Jaipur stretch set to become India's first e-highway

The first stretch of e-highways is expected to be completed by mid-2022, according to sources in the road ministry. The batteries of vehicles travelling on an electric highway or road are recharged. It is regarded as an energy-efficient option that aids in the reduction of carbon emissions.

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has made the e-highway project a priority. In a 2016 interview with PTI, Gadkari stated that India may soon have a stretch of electric highway similar to Sweden's.

The 200 km Delhi-Jaipur highway on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, where 20% of the roads will be electrified, is the first stretch where the government is considering implementing the project. The batteries of cargo trucks and other electric vehicles will be recharged in a separate lane.

Trucks and freight transport that transport white goods such as refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and FMCG products will be the focus of India's electric highways.

The government will provide incentives to industry partners to roll out the technology on highways and provide land for the project, while original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will install the contact arm in vehicles, according to the PPP model (private-public partnership).

An official at an e-highway technology company said that they have been in talks with the Modi government since 2017 and that the technology has already been deployed. Electric highways can be built using three different technologies.

The pantograph model, in which a contact arm is attached to the top of the freight or electric vehicle and is connected to an overhead cable that is electrically charged for that stretch of the highway, will be implemented in India. Germany built its electric roads using the same technology.

The conduction method, in which the contact arm for the motor vehicle is at the bottom and connects to the road to be charged, is the other of the two technologies. The road must have an electromagnetic current in the conduction method.

The third one is the induction model, which has no contact arm and charges the vehicle using electro-magnetic technology that must be installed on both the roads and the vehicle. Sweden built e-highways using the conduction model.

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