Societal perception of electric road systems in Germany and Sweden

Road transport is still heavily dominated by fossil fuel usage. CO2 emissions of heavy-duty road transport are even expected to continue to grow in the future. This points to both the necessity and challenge of a net-zero transition in this sector. Among the multiple alternative technologies enabling low carbon road transport, Electric Road Systems (ERS) have the potential to allow electric vehicles to drive longer distances without having to stop for recharging. In addition, dynamic charging while driving makes smaller battery sizes possible. ERS can either be designed as overhead catenary systems, as conductive tracks in the road, or as inductive tracks. However, the role of ERS in the transport system of the future remains unclear and research on the question in how far ERS meet relevant stakeholder requirements is needed.In this working paper, a result of the CollERS2 project, we identify important acceptance factors for ERS in Germany and Sweden, taking into account different actor groups. The analysis includes two steps: (1) a literature review on actors and acceptance of ERS and on success factors of technology processes and experimentation and (2) two expert workshops on the experiences with and evaluations of ERS field trials in the two countries. The literature review and the workshops show differences in the social acceptance of past and ongoing ERS field trials in Germany and Sweden. Local residents in Germany exhibit critical attitudes towards catenary trucks and infrastructure. In Sweden, the public were perceived as less critical. At the same time, similar benefits of the technology were identified in the discussion around the field trials in both countries. The literature review revealed a number of success factors for technology field tests. Some of them were found to be lacking when analysing the discussions in the first workshop. For example, "strong and comprehensive coalitions" as well as a "vision for upscaling" seem to be missing in the ERS field tests, which could be linked to the lack of acceptance of certain industry actors. Finally, the experts discussed a potential negative influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the social acceptance of ERS since fewer trucks than planned were operated on the test tracks and no social gatherings to explain the technology to local residents were possible. This related back to the (missing) success factors "Discourses" and "Public perception" identified in the literature. In the second workshop, strategies to increase acceptance were discussed. The strategies to boost the success of the field tests that were discussed by the experts correspondedto some of the success factors identified in the literature review for field tests in general. For example, communicating the technical and environmental impact of the technology to affected local actor groups as well as public consultation formats were seen as effective measures to increase social acceptance. In addition, learning from similar technologies was seen as a way to inform the design of public participation and information measures and relates back to the succes factor "Evaluation, learning and capacity building".The fact that not all of the success factors identified in the literature could be demonstrated in the field trials offers potential for improvement in current or future field trials on ERS.