Photo: Arup

UK city tests wireless charging route for buses

09 January 2014

by Richard Forster

An all-electric bus route that will test whether electric buses can perform on a par with their diesel counterparts in an operational environment was launched today in the city of Milton Keynes.

Jointly planned and managed by a Mitsui-Arup venture, with support from the city council, the buses will run for five years in a carefully monitored demonstration programme, which will objectively assess their technical and commercial viability.  If successful the system will be replicated on other bus routes in the city and across the country with the support of the UK Department for Transport.

“Electric buses’ physical and economic potential has historically been sidelined because no one could see around the range problem associated with the batteries,” explained John Miles, Arup consultant and engineering research professor at Cambridge University. “Wireless charging can bring electric buses in from the cold, and potentially put them neck-and-neck with their diesel counterparts. If we can demonstrate true parity with diesel buses during this trial, we’ll have reached a tipping point for low-carbon transport and have proved it can be cost-effective as well as green.”

Instead of plugging into the mains, the new buses will be able to recharge their batteries wirelessly during their working day meaning a continual service for 17 hours which is the same as the diesel buses they replace. Wireless charging plates set into the road transfer power directly to receiving plates underneath the bus, using a technique based on the principles of electrical induction.

Arriva-bus-recharge-wireless
The new buses will be able to recharge their batteries wirelessly throughout their working day

In 10 minutes, a bus parked over a charging point will replenish two-thirds of the energy consumed on its 24-kilometre route. Only two wireless charging points are needed to service all eight buses, which will charge in the time scheduled for driver breaks.

The eight electric buses will replace seven diesel buses on one route and will run seven days a week removing approximately 269 tonnes of tailpipe CO2 emissions per year. Developers believe the initiative could reduce bus-running costs by between £12,000 and £15,000 a year.

“We believe that the electric bus is now a real contender in the near future of public transport,” said Hironobu Ishikawa, Managing Director at Mitsui & Co. Europe. “We’re confident that this demonstration project will show that economic and ecological priorities can co-exist, and our next goal is to expand this project to a commercial scale.”

The full timetabled service will operate from 19 January.

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