UK Electric Bus Route Rolling Out

Electric Buses are set to start running in the United Kingdom from the End of January 2014. The modern vehicles will be used on the number 7 route which runs between the Milton Keynes suburbs of Wolverton and Bletchley. The number 7 bus reportedly carries over 800,000 passengers per year. The system works via the use of charging plates buried in the ground. The buses will receive full charges over night at the depot and top up charges at the end of their route throughout the day. Once the bus has been parked over these electric devices, the bus driver lowers receiver plates from the bottom of the vehicle and they are charged for a period of ten minutes between routes. The ten minute charges will be able to replenish about two thirds of the energy used on the bus route. The test will require the bus to complete a 20 hour shift without the need of a heavy and expensive traditional battery. Another major challenge of this test will be the route itself; the tough urban terrain will fully test the durability of the bus. The buses have been built by UK manufacturer Whitebus. The five year trial of this project will be led by the European Division of Japanese Company Mitsui and the UK engineering group Aroup. If the project is successful they will begin rolling it out throughout other areas of the United Kingdom. The system was initiated by Cambridge University professor John Miles. Professor Miles is also Aroup's lead on the project. He claimed that whilst electric vehicles are about twice as expensive to manufacture as diesel vehicles, they are a lot cheaper to run. He has estimated that the scheme will be able to make savings of around ?12-000 to ?15-000 a year. Moushumi Mohanty is based in India and manages the global Hybrid-EV website and publication for HIS automobile industry consulting. She offered some further insight concerning this project. "In terms of benefits I can think of two or three, you know how the inductive charge works right? From one magnetic field to another magnetic field, electrons transfer. The charge can actually happen very seamlessly. One of the big issues of EV adoption was basically its cost which came from the battery. If you are charging this constantly on the go, this is a hyperthetical situation, your battery is constantly getting topped up so you don't need a large battery. Another associated advantage would be if you have a battery that is constantly getting charged, events of deep discharge are much lower and the life cycle of there battery will be very good, in fact it will be optimum." Moushumi also went on to discuss the disadvantages of the system; these included heavy start up costs, installation fees, manufacturing and material costs. There would also be a certain degree of difficulty on actually charging the plates, if they are not aligned perfectly the vehicle will not receive an optimum charge. Recent tests that have shown an approximate 10% of charges are being wasted and the costs will have to be paid for by the consumer. Technology of this nature will also take time to develop. Moushumi believes it may take another decade for the technology to be at the point where it can be used efficiently. The United Kingdom is not the first country to initiate this high tech system of public transportation. Electronic buses have already been rolled out in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and South Korea. During 2013 South Korea began utilizing a system where electric recharge coils were planted into a road in Gumi. This allows the vehicle to charge whilst still in motion. The environmental friendly Electric vehicle may also prove to be very effective in the busy metropolitan cities in China. Beijing was reportedly has to highest amount of cars in China boasting an incredible 5,200,000 vehicles. The incorporation of this new system would offer many needed eco friendly benefits including fewer carbon admissions and a reduction in use of fossil fuels. Namrita Chow is the Manager and senior analyst of HIS automobile industry consulting; she offers her insight towards the possibilities of running such a system in China. "The system that was introduced recently in Milton Keynes is a trial run for inserting induction plates in to the road to charge vehicles as they drive over them. However this takes significant investment. In China it is unlikely this investment will be introduced because of the cost involved in fitting these plates in to the road and also it would mean there would be limited routes. At the moment the country seems to be investing in easy charging infrastructure where electric cars and buses can be charged at these charge points. The countries regional and central government are investing in significantly in infrastructure for this. The electric plates are another way so it would mean a number of automaters working together to have their batteries fitted in the same area so they can receive the induction from the plates so it is a completely different method of charging the electric vehicle." Further development of this project will be decided in 2017. At this point there will be enough data recorded to accurately decide whether the project should be continued. If successful, results published at this time it will go alone way to opening the system up to other countries around the globe.