Elonroad

Founded in 2014 by Dan Zethraeus, Karin Ebbinghaus, and Kim Malmberg Svedmark, Elonroad is a Swedish company that provides a road-embedded charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The company name is derived from "el," the Swedish word for electric. The founder, Dan Zethraeus, a former film director, conceived the idea while commuting and observing slush accumulate between the wheels on a road, leading him to build the first prototype with Lego bricks.

Elonroad develops and installs a conductive rail that can be placed on top of or embedded within the road surface. This system allows electric vehicles, retrofitted with a conductive pick-up, to charge while driving or parked, transferring power up to 300kW with 97% efficiency. The rail is designed for safety, activating only in short segments directly under the vehicle. A software control layer manages billing, access control, and grid load balancing. The technology is vehicle-agnostic and aims to reduce the dependency on large, expensive batteries, thereby lowering the total cost of ownership and CO2 impact.

The company targets clients such as logistics and delivery firms, ports, and public road authorities. Its business model involves manufacturing, installing, operating, and maintaining the charging systems. Elonroad has engaged in several pilot projects, including a 1km demonstration road in Lund for the Swedish Transport Administration, testing with city buses, and collaborations with logistics company Bring and the Port of Helsingborg. It is also part of a consortium with Vinci Group to build an electric road near Paris. The company has received funding from investors including Almi Invest, EIC Fund, and Bring Ventures.

Keywords: electric road, dynamic charging, conductive charging, EV infrastructure, in-road charging, smart road, electric vehicle charging, stationary charging, e-mobility, vehicle-to-grid, V2G, automatic charging, logistics electrification, port electrification, sustainable transportation, clean-tech, EV retrofitting, dynamic power transfer, road-embedded charging, smart city technology