More vehicle charging points for cross-country corridor is goal of European project in Sweden

Mittstråket, literally “the middle road”, is one of Sweden's most important roads - providing an east/west corridor towards Norway.

It's a snow-white road in the winter months, but a European project is aiming to make it "green" all year round.

How? By increasing the number of electric vehicle charging points - at all train stations along the route. The aim is to promote mixed transport and reduce the carbon emissions produced by passenger transport.

Business developer Jimmy Anjevall uses it from time to time.

“When I'm travelling it's nice to be able to charge the car during my stay in the city,” he says. “It's a little bit more expensive if I compare it to charging at home but it's not that expensive. It's €0,29 per kilowatt-hour.”

These terminals work with a badge - or an application that indicates in real-time what charging points are available and their location.

The Ladda i Mittstråket project has a budget of a little over €800,000 - of which half is financed by the European Cohesion Policy.

The County administrative board in Jämtland and in Västernorrland are financing the majority of the other half, with Jämtkraft and Sundsvall Energi also financing a part of their investments (approximately 7%).

There are 85 charging stations planned for more than 200,000 potential users who live along the 358 kilometre stretch between Sundsvall and Storlien.

Sweden boasts the largest number of electric vehicles in the European Union. The project aims to ensure even those living in sparsely populated areas have access to charging points.

“The train and the public transportation is good here, but it's sometimes difficult to reach your end destination with public transport,” says Ladda i Mittstråket project manager Henrietta Philp. “So