Milton Keynes’ electric buses to be charged wirelessly 25 September 2012

A five-year collaboration has been signed by eight parties – led by a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co Europe – for the provision of electric buses, in place of diesel vehicles, for Milton Keynes.

As part of the contract, eight self-charging electric buses will be used on one of the routes around the town, which, it is claimed, will save approximately 500 tonnes of tailpipe CO2 emissions a year, as well as 45 tonnes of pollutants.

Working alongside Mitsui, the remaining members of the partnership are Milton Keynes Council, Arriva, Wrightbus, Conductix-Wampfler, Western Power Distribution, Chargemaster and SSE.

The new buses will recharge their batteries wirelessly through the day. The charging process takes place when power transmitted from a primary coil buried in the road is picked up by a secondary coil on the bus.

When a bus is parked over one of the coils for 10 minutes, two thirds of the energy consumed by the bus's route will be replenished, according to the consortium.

The primary coils will be placed at three points on the bus route, and the buses will charge in the time scheduled for driver breaks at the end of the route.

The trial will be managed by Mitsui-Arup joint venture MBK Arup Sustainable Projects (MASP).

Arup's John Miles, who initiated the trial, says the wireless charging element of the scheme is key to the project's success.

"The Milton Keynes buses will be able to cover a heavily-used urban route, because they are able to charge for 10 minutes at the beginning and end of each cycle without interrupting the timetable," he explains.

"This means that, for the first time, an electric bus will effectively be able to do everything a diesel bus can do, which is a significant step forwards to a cleaner, quieter, public transport system," he adds.

Author
John Challen

Related Companies
Arriva Midlands Ltd
The Wright Group Ltd

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