This is the first meeting I’ve been to at the IET since the refurbishment of the premises at Savoy Place, London.
The location has always been amazing, but now the venue makes the most of it, with new entertainment space on the first floor leading to balconies that overlook the River Thames.
The presentation by Murat Basarir covered a Joint Venture by Arup and Mitsui to trial 8 electric buses on an urban bus route in Milton Keynes. The linear route is 24km long and takes about 50 minutes from one end to the other. Whilst they considered many battery charging options, they decided to install wireless charging plates into the road at the terminals, giving the bus 10 minutes to top-up before it turns round and runs the route in the opposite direction. There’s no need for the driver to physically plug in or swap batteries, so s/he gets a ten minute breaks, as per routine with diesel buses. The regular top-ups increase the range of the bus, so that it only needs a longer, trickle charge overnight back at the depot.
musingstudio 