[bootlegga]

Korea constructs road that wirelessly charges moving electric buses

$1:

An electric bus that charges its batteries while driving (rather than while sitting idle in a charging station) is no longer science fiction.

Researchers at Korea’s Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) recently constructed a seven and a half mile stretch of asphalt roadway in the city of Gumi in South Korea with specialized electric cables designed to power batteries on a moving passenger bus.

The first of it’s kind technology doesn’t need the vehicles to stop at a point to charge.

The bus’s batteries are equipped with a novel technology called “Shaped Magnetic Field In Resonance” that sends electromagnetic fields created by the electric cables buried in the asphalt to the bus but not normal cars.

The technology recognizes vehicles capable of accepting the electric charge and those that cannot.

A coil in the battery can turn the electromagnetic fields into electricity at a distance of more than half a foot above the road.

http://ca.autos.yahoo.com/news/korea-co ... 14015.html

If something like that would work here, it might help our transition from the internal combustion engine. At the very least, it would help cut oil imports a fair bit.

[jeff744]

bootlegga bootlegga:

If something like that would work here, it might help our transition from the internal combustion engine. At the very least, it would help cut oil imports a fair bit.

It would last maybe one or two winters here.

[bootlegga]

jeff744 jeff744:

bootlegga bootlegga:

If something like that would work here, it might help our transition from the internal combustion engine. At the very least, it would help cut oil imports a fair bit.

It would last maybe one or two winters here.

Not necessarily.

We bury pipes, electric lines, and all sorts of things underground and they don't need to be replaced every couple years. Even things like red light cameras at intersections aren't buried more than a few inches under the asphalt.

I think it just needs to be stronger so it can be buried more than half a foot down - say maybe two feet down.

It might not be feasible everywhere in Canada right now, but with a bit of R&D, it could be.

[Jabberwalker]

“Shaped Magnetic Field In Resonance” that sends electromagnetic fields created by the electric cables buried in the asphalt to the bus but not normal cars.


One has to wonder about the effects of spending too much time in a strong electromagnetic field on the human body. You could transmit "electric charging" with a microwave beam, as well but you had better not miss and accidentally cook a person!

[Hyack]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

“Shaped Magnetic Field In Resonance” that sends electromagnetic fields created by the electric cables buried in the asphalt to the bus but not normal cars.


One has to wonder about the effects of spending too much time in a strong electromagnetic field on the human body. You could transmit "electric charging" with a microwave beam, as well but you had better not miss and accidentally cook a person!

Remember, this is Korea, so what if they cook a person.....or even thousands more.....who really cares over there, there's millions and millions more of them to play with

[saturn_656]

Won't happen here 'till they figure how to bill everyone the $1.00 per kilowatt hour they'll charge for its use.

[Vamp018]

We have this somewhat in Downtown San Antonio. VIA our transit has new electric buses wired to charge from the road wireless. Also downtown many new roads and wire laying into the road with sensors is being done for the 2017 Lite Rail launch. It is very cost effective and keeps transit prices in check. Atm San Antonio VIA is the lowest cost transit in Texas for riders and has a huge vast multi counties route area spanning coverage over 400sq Miles and Joint Military Base SA. It puts Austin's Transit right to shame and in the garbage and beats the heck out of Dallas there high cost to rider's.

[bootlegga]

saturn_656 saturn_656:

Won't happen here 'till they figure how to bill everyone the $1.00 per kilowatt hour they'll charge for its use.

That doesn't make any sense - the fees they charge already include fuel, which is typically diesel. There is no need to charge more because you change the fuel type - in fact, with the over-production in much of Canada, electricity would probably reduce fuel costs for transit departments.

Despite that, I'm not naive enough to think prices would drop, just that they would stay flat for a while because there seems to be less volatility in electricity than there generally is in oil.

[saturn_656]

bootlegga bootlegga:

saturn_656 saturn_656:

Won't happen here 'till they figure how to bill everyone the $1.00 per kilowatt hour they'll charge for its use.

That doesn't make any sense - the fees they charge already include fuel, which is typically diesel. There is no need to charge more because you change the fuel type - in fact, with the over-production in much of Canada, electricity would probably reduce fuel costs for transit departments.

Despite that, I'm not naive enough to think prices would drop, just that they would stay flat for a while because there seems to be less volatility in electricity than there generally is in oil.

Telsa has battery tech that can charge a battery to 80% in 20 minutes. Electric vehicles are already well capable of city travel. It's beyond that where this tech could come in handy.

Your electric car doesn't have a hope in hell of making it from Edmonton to Winnipeg, but it would if these lines were buried in the TC.

It'd be a complete waste to put them in just for buses.

[bootlegga]

saturn_656 saturn_656:

bootlegga bootlegga:

That doesn't make any sense - the fees they charge already include fuel, which is typically diesel. There is no need to charge more because you change the fuel type - in fact, with the over-production in much of Canada, electricity would probably reduce fuel costs for transit departments.

Despite that, I'm not naive enough to think prices would drop, just that they would stay flat for a while because there seems to be less volatility in electricity than there generally is in oil.

Telsa has battery tech that can charge a battery to 80% in 20 minutes. Electric vehicles are already well capable of city travel. It's beyond that where this tech could come in handy.

Your electric car doesn't have a hope in hell of making it from Edmonton to Winnipeg, but it would if these lines were buried in the TC.

It'd be a complete waste to put them in just for buses.

I don't think this is so much about making electric vehicles more efficient, but rather reducing air pollution.

I don't know about where you live, but Edmonton runs a few hundred diesel buses daily, with dozens more from St. Albert and Strathcona county. Taking those off the road would significantly reduce air pollution.

Cities in Korea use far more buses than Edmonton - so it's a significant drop in air pollution.

It would be even better if someone manufactured an electric heavy duty delivery truck that could also use these lines.

This line was an experimental one, but I could see building them coast to coast as a long term infrastructure project someday if it's feasible.

That all depends on how much it costs to build - if it's very high, then it would make sense to build them in cities first, where there is more density (and hopefully more users). Then down the road, build them coast to coast when we can do it affordably and use economies of scale.

Of course, if we did build coast to coast, then there would likely have to be some sort of toll charges or extra taxes to pay for the extra power usage. However, given that drivers aren't buying gasoline, it would be about the same.

And when I drive to Winnipeg from Edmonton, I NEVER use the TC (except after Regina). The Yellowhead to Sasktoon and then Hwy 1 to Regina route cuts several hours and hundreds of kms off the trip.

[Jabberwalker]

And when I drive to Winnipeg from Edmonton, I NEVER use the TC (except after Regina). The Yellowhead to Sasktoon and then Hwy 1 to Regina route cuts several hours and hundreds of kms off the trip.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Besides, it's not as pee-on-a-plate flat. You don't have to check your speedometer to see if you're moving.

[DrCaleb]

bootlegga bootlegga:

I think it just needs to be stronger so it can be buried more than half a foot down - say maybe two feet down.

It might not be feasible everywhere in Canada right now, but with a bit of R&D, it could be.

With current technology, you can't bury it deeper. Radiation propogates with the cube of the distance. That's physics. Moving it from 6 inches to 24 means the intensity is 48 times weaker. To get an equivalent EM field, you'd have to run 48 times the current through those conductors.

They'd have to be quite substantial, and would even heat the roadway up. And 48 times the power means 48 times the parasitic losses due to resistance and heat, which would mean that more than 48 times the current would be needed.

There a new type of fuel cell coming out that can power 5 houses using natural gas and it about the size of a dishwasher. A mini version of those powering the bus would be much more efficient.

[Jabberwalker]

That's physics.

That's Coulomb.

[commanderkai]

Although neat, I don't see it being all that useful outside of say...Toronto, and even then, it'd probably be cheaper to just find extremely efficient vehicles using diesel/natural gas/etc.

It would be a nice feature once electric vehicles become more commonplace, so the average commuter can go from Toronto to Montreal(as an example) while just using electricity, but saturn's right, they'll want a way to bill you for it.

[Jabberwalker]

commanderkai commanderkai:

Although neat, I don't see it being all that useful outside of say...Toronto, and even then, it'd probably be cheaper to just find extremely efficient vehicles using diesel/natural gas/etc.

It would be a nice feature once electric vehicles become more commonplace, so the average commuter can go from Toronto to Montreal(as an example) while just using electricity, but saturn's right, they'll want a way to bill you for it.

Rob Ford would never go for it. It's too Tree-hugger /Pinko.