FRANKFURT/LANGEN (dpa-AFX) - The test operation on the electric highway for hybrid trucks on the A5 in Hesse has been discontinued as planned. The Autobahn GmbH of the federal government announced. "The electricity of the overhead line system was switched off because there are no more test drives," explained a spokesman. Accordingly, the trial operation was discontinued at the end of 2024.
However, the Elisa research project has not yet been completed. Elisa stands for electrified, innovative heavy traffic on highways. "Currently, the data is being analyzed and scientifically evaluated," said the spokesperson. The results of the field test are expected to be available in the second half of 2025. The Hessische Rundfunk (HR) had reported on this earlier.
Charging at full speed
The aim of the Elisa project is to explore how climate-neutral heavy-duty transport could be achieved using overhead line technology. The operation of the E-Highway has been continuously analyzed "under technological, traffic, ecological, economic, organizational and acceptance-related aspects," he explained.
Since the beginning of May 2019, trucks have been able to dock a pantograph onto an overhead line and recharge their batteries on the busy stretch of road between Langen and Weiterstadt in southern Hesse. This allowed the batteries to be charged while driving at full speed.
Three test sections nationwide
According to Autobahn GmbH, a total of around twelve kilometers of track in the direction of Darmstadt and five kilometers in the direction of Frankfurt were available with overhead lines. According to Autobahn GmbH, up to eleven trucks were on the test track every working day.
The project is one of three test routes for hybrid catenary trucks. In addition to the route in Hesse, there are two more in Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Württemberg.