Over a mile of electrified road has opened near Stockholm marking a significant milestone in the electric vehicle journey.

In a world-first, the 2km stretch is capable of recharging the batteries of vehicles driving on it – setting Sweden on the way to achieving its target of banishing fossil fuels by 2030.

At a cost of €1 million per kilometre, the Scandinavian country’s government has already drafted a national map for expansion.

The road – linking the capital’s Arlanda airport to a logistics site – works through two tracks of rail, through which energy is transferred via a moveable arm attached to the underside of a vehicle, almost like a Scalextric track.

Should a vehicle overtake, however, the arm becomes disconnected.

Split into sections of 50m each, the electrified tracks are only powered when a vehicle is above them – so when a car stops, the current switches off.

Among the many advantages of such a “dynamic charging” initiative, the system can calculate a vehicle’s energy consumption – so electricity costs can be debited per user.

In addition, vehicle batteries and their manufacturing costs can be reduced.

Talking about Sweden hitting its environmental targets, Hans Säll, chief executive of the eRoadArlanda consortium said: “If we electrify 20,000km of highways that will definitely be enough.

“The distance between two highways is never more than 45km and electric cars can already travel that distance without needing to be recharged. Some believe it would be enough to electrify 5,000km.”

The cost of electrification is said to be 50 times lower than that required to construct an urban tram line.