In London (UK), IPT Technology delivered in 2016 it’s 100 kW wireless charging solution to charge – for the first time in history – three hybrid double-decker buses on route 69, as part of the ZeEUS project. These buses ran between two major city transport hubs, Canning Town Bus Station and Walthamstow Central Bus Station.
Challenge
Approximately two-thirds of the London bus fleet is in double-deck configuration. This poses a technical challenge for pure electric vehicles, given the current state of battery technological maturity. Although permissible maximum gross vehicle weight has now been increased to 19,500kg, this still presents significant challenges in maintaining passenger capacities while carrying sufficient battery capacity to achieve and maintain route schedules. The objective of the London Demo was to validate the performance of three plug-in electric-diesel hybrid double-decker buses.
Solution
IPT provides a flexible and reliable wireless charging solution to this project with minimum visual pollution and noise. The buses in London run their service with en-route opportunity charging. The buses were charged wirelessly at either end of the route, where they stopped over a 100kW charging plate during scheduled layover periods. The charging system starts automatically charging the bus every half an hour during the day for charging at 100kW for 6-8 minutes. Also, the batteries were charged by overnight plug-in charging at the bus depot.
Results
London is planning on continuing operation of both buses and infrastructures to test operational performance and durability further. As a next step, the city is also aiming at exploring for 100% electric buses instead of hybrid buses.
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- Improved understanding of the plug-in range-extended wireless charged bus technology and its operational performance
- The project achieved more than 60% in EV mode
- Positive feedback from both drivers and passengers
- Driving electric and charging wirelessly proved to be efficient and reliable; looking back installing the charging infrastructure was the main challenge of the project. We can then speak of a flawless and successful test period.
Find the brochure and learn all about the London ZeEUS demo.
