You remember when we talked about wireless power? I was talking about its use in small devices, health care, and the like. Well, South Korea has much bigger plans in mind.
South of Seoul, in the city of Gumi, two new buses have just gone on-line. Running a 15 mile route, where the electromagnetic fields are generated below the macadam (paved road) and can maintain the power of the buses. Dongwon OLEV [OnLine Electric Vehicle] is the company building the system, which was designed at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Part of the reasons the system is being tested is to see if this will cut the air pollution that obtains in cities.
The system has been in use at KAIST for about 2 years, running on a 2.5 mile route. It has also been tested at a Seoul amusement park (1.4 mile route) and at a world expo in Yeosu. (All those locations are in South Korea.)
Just like those small systems I described earlier, the wires embedded below the roadbed transmit their electromagnetic fields to the coils that exist on the bus undercarriage, which are about 17 cm (5 in) above the embedded electric cables. (The cables cover about 10% of the road surface (ranging between 5 to 15%). The system develops about 100 kW (130 HP) of electricity- at about 85% efficiency, running at 20 kHz.
You might recognize that 130 HP is about ½ the power normally used by bus engines. But, these buses are comprised of carbon-fiber, so they weigh less, too. Surprisingly, the buses only cost about $ 50K more than conventional buses, running about $580K.
However, there is a pretty steep infrastructure cost involved for the project. The project’s costs are around $ 4.3 million, of which less than $ 1.2 million are for the two buses.
It is hoped that employing intermittent charging will prove that the choice of a smaller battery size (about 1/3 that used in electric cars) will work long term. This choice is what is truly critical for the reduced bus weight, as well as its augmented fuel efficiency. (Of course, “no wires” means that there won’t be human intervention to plug the buses in and zero chance for electrocution of the operators. The electromagnetic fields are also at 62.5 mG, reducing the chance for detrimental electromagnetic force [EMF] exposure.)
This technology may also be adaptable to run trains, but that is still just a dream right now. Let’s see what happens with these buses.
Interesting to see what comes of this!
The question is whether countries are going to be willing to invest in their infrastructure- because the roadways will have to be upgraded and changed to make this better motive force work.
Interesting! I’d like to try these buses! There is a small typo – thought you’d like to know…
Caro Ness recently posted..Billy the Kid
I’m looking forward to the quiet ride, too, Caro!.
Thanks for the visit, the comment, and the heads-up about recpognize!