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The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) is key to reducing CO2 emissions from vehicles in operation to zero. One example of an initiative furthering the realization of that aim is the introduction of an Electric Road System (ERS) with a dynamic charging system that recharges EVs in operation directly from the electric road. This paper describes the results of testing an ERS with a system for conductive charging from the side applied to heavy-duty trucks. Total CO2 emissions in the world have risen to approximately 36.75 billion tons (FY2016), with the motor vehicle sector accounting for 5.88 billion tons, or 16% of the total. A large portion of that is attributable to cargo vehicles (trucks and buses). To achieve CO2 emissions reduction in this motor vehicle sector to zero, it is necessary to introduce vehicles that are powered only by electric motors and that do not carry fossil fuels; in other words, electric vehicles (EV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV).

The electric vehicle (EV) is one means of realizing carbon neutrality for automobiles, but at present, EVs still faces a number of issues. The main issues include, for example, (1) cruising range, (2) installed battery capacity, (3) charging time, (4) infrastructure facilities, and (5) support for Heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Full electrification of heavy-duty trucks, in particular, requires high power output. This means that enormous installed battery capacity is necessary, and as a result, cruising range on a par with engine-driven vehicles cannot be readily achieved. Therefore a dynamic charge system was devised here that would provide electric power to EVs directly from the infrastructure so that EVs could undergo intermittent charging while driving. This is a conductive charging system that operates from the side of the vehicle (roadside), and research has been underway on the application of this approach to passenger cars and race cars.