I just had a corking idea to help alleviate the UK’s dependence on oil for transport.
Quite simply; electrify the motorways!
The idea is simple. Working on the principal of ‘trolleybuses’ we have sections of motorway where lane 1 (slow lane) is covered by overhead power cables for ‘trolley’ pick-up. You would, of course, need to design the system to cater specifically for the motorways.
Series-hybrid vehicles (preferrably HGVs) would be equipped with trolley arms. Before joining the motorway, they would operate under their fuel-based power system whether that be diesel-electric or another fuel. To enter the motorway, they would pass under a bar to ensure that no vehicle is over-height. Overheight vehicles would collide with hanging ‘rattle’ poles as well as triggering emergency stop lights on the sliproad. The entering vehicle would then filter into traffic as normal and an on-board system would briefly communicate with road-side telemetry to ask for permission to join the overhead power system (this as to prevent overloading of the system if too many vehicles joing too quickly for example). Once authorised, the vehicle would raise it’s trolley arms and make a computer-controlled capture of the overhead cables and then deactivate it’s fuel-based power system, relying on electricity alone for propulsion. The supplied power could also be used to charge any on-board battery systems the vehicle may have to enable short road journeys off the motorway after the vehicle pulls off.
Safety features which I can think of off the top of my head would be the aforementioned height bar, intelligent emergency disconnect systems in the event of a severed cable or pylon-strike, intelligent trolley arm control to instantly disconnect from the cables in the event of a capture ‘miss’ or that emergency maneuvering is required and an intelligent power-load controlling system.
The power will need to come from somewhere and I would suggest that modern nuclear power combined with supplementary power from renewable sources would be the best solution. With no direct emissions and careful management of waste products, this would undoubtedly be a far cleaner system that individual internal combustion engines. Even were the system powered by a centralised hydrocarbon generator, the efficiency of scale would make it a cleaner and more economical solution. More importantly though, using nuclear and renewable power would help reduce our dependence on oil and save hauliers a fortune enabling us to enjoy cheaper goods.
Photo credit: Carl-Johan Aberger
Tags: electric motorway, electric vehicles, energy, oil, pantograph, power, trolleybus
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What would have urban planners thought of this idea if someone had come up with this back in the sixties, if anyone here came up with this idea in the Golden age of the motor car, or have a parent or some other friend or relative who, why not post here?