BEV Goes eHighway

Integration of Overhead Line Technology in Batteryelectric Series Trucks for Road-based Heavy-duty Traffic

In the project “BEE – BEV Goes eHighway”, concepts for the integration of battery-electric trucks with overhead line technology into heavy-duty road traffic are being developed and evaluated. Two battery-electric trucks from large-scale production will be equipped with a pantograph system, tested and measured within dedicated test fields and in real traffic, customer acceptance will be assessed by means of exemplary user studies and the essential vehicle interfaces for system integration will be addressed in a standard proposal.

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A research project by:

BEV Goes eHighway

Integration of Overhead Line Technology in Batteryelectric Series Trucks for Road-based Heavy-duty Traffic

In the project “BEE – BEV Goes eHighway”, concepts for the integration of battery-electric trucks with overhead line technology into heavy-duty road traffic are being developed and evaluated. Two battery-electric trucks from large-scale production will be equipped with a pantograph system, tested and measured within dedicated test fields and in real traffic, customer acceptance will be assessed by means of exemplary user studies and the essential vehicle interfaces for system integration will be addressed in a standard proposal.

more

A research project by:

News

BEE Final Event successful

On December 9, 2025, after four years, the time had come: the final event of our project took place at the Institute for Automotive Engineering in Aachen. In addition to technical presentations from the project, we were able to welcome additional speakers from research and industry. Alongside the presentation program, there was an opportunity to […]

Read more

Save the Date – BEE Final Event

After exciting years of research and development, we would like to conclude this journey together and cordially invite you to the final event of our project “BEV Goes E-Highway – BEE” on December 9th 2025 at 9:30 a.m. at the Institute for Automotive Engineering (ika) at Steinbachstr. 7, 52074 Aachen. You can look forward to […]

Read more

Event – “Willi” presented at ELIV in Bonn

Our research vehicle “Willi” was presented in October at the VDI conference “Electronics in Vehicles – ELIV” in front of the World Conference Center in Bonn. At the same time, our colleague Theo Koch gave a presentation on “Holistic Operation Optimization for Mixed Commercial Vehicle Fleets,” in which he introduced a method developed in the […]

Read more
all news

News

BEE Final Event successful

On December 9, 2025, after four years, the time had come: the final event of our project took place at the Institute for Automotive Engineering in Aachen. In addition to technical presentations from the project, we were able to welcome additional speakers from research and industry. Alongside the presentation program, there was an opportunity to […]

Read more

Save the Date – BEE Final Event

After exciting years of research and development, we would like to conclude this journey together and cordially invite you to the final event of our project “BEV Goes E-Highway – BEE” on December 9th 2025 at 9:30 a.m. at the Institute for Automotive Engineering (ika) at Steinbachstr. 7, 52074 Aachen. You can look forward to […]

Read more

Event – “Willi” presented at ELIV in Bonn

Our research vehicle “Willi” was presented in October at the VDI conference “Electronics in Vehicles – ELIV” in front of the World Conference Center in Bonn. At the same time, our colleague Theo Koch gave a presentation on “Holistic Operation Optimization for Mixed Commercial Vehicle Fleets,” in which he introduced a method developed in the […]

Read more
all news

The Project

The aim of the project “BEE – BEV Goes eHighway” is the further development of overhead line technology for heavy goods road transport in order to establish fully electric drive alternatives in the long term. The focus is on the development of a catenary truck, testing within dedicated test fields as well as in real traffic, the preparation of user studies for customer acceptance and to determine potential user groups, technology and potential analyses and an analysis of the essential vehicle interfaces with the final development of a standard proposal. Within the project, the integration of overhead line technology on the basis of two battery-electric (BEV) series-production trucks is being investigated and evaluated. The focus is on the viewpoint of the vehicle manufacturer, for whom the duration of the conversion phase of the series vehicle is particularly relevant.

The vehicle manufacturer cannot currently use any set of standards as a guide to simplify the installation of the pantograph system. During the conversion phase, possible interfaces for a later standardisation of the system will be identified in cooperation with the developers of the pantograph system. This will simplify the conversion process in the future and thus create the basis for higher market penetration.

Within the project, the research vehicles enable a direct technology comparison of a pure BEV truck and a catenary BEV truck and thus offer the possibility to evaluate the CO₂ avoidance potential based on real driving data. The real driving data is determined through field tests.

Another outstanding feature of this project, in addition to the direct comparison of vehicles with and without catenary system, is the performance of extensive test drives on the grounds of several test facilities in Germany. This will allow the technology to be evaluated on a route-specific basis, thus demonstrating its potential for application on public roads. The expected high volume of recorded data provides a meaningful basis for the technology assessment. On this basis, further studies will then be carried out on, among other things, the necessary battery capacity, vehicle range and payload.

Technology Assessment in Real Operation

In the project “BEE – BEV Goes eHighway”, concepts for the integration of battery-electric trucks with overhead line technology into heavy-duty road traffic are being developed and evaluated. Two battery-electric trucks from large-scale production will be equipped with a pantograph system, tested and measured within dedicated test fields and in real traffic, customer acceptance will be assessed by means of exemplary user studies and the essential vehicle interfaces
for system integration will be addressed in a standard proposal.

Goals of the BEE Project

Interface Development

Interface Development

Together with vehicle and component manufacturers, a neutral system interface for the standardised integration of overhead contact line
technology is being designed.

Real Traffic Testing

Real Traffic Testing

Test drives in public road traffic with vehicles of different drive systems enable a practical technology evaluation.

User Acceptance

User Acceptance

Within user studies, drivers from the logistics industry are involved in the practical evaluation.

Contact

RWTH Aachen University
Responsible department: Institute for Automotive Engineering (ika)
Steinbachstraße 7
D – 52074 Aachen

Contact person
Gordon Witham M.Sc.
Group Leader Electric Powertrain
Phone | E-Mail