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Old 23rd March 2019, 15:43   #1
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Norway to install *wireless* charging infra for electric taxis

Oslo, the capital of Norway will soon have wireless charging infrastructure for the city’s electric taxis. Finland-based energy company Fortum has announced a joint venture with the city of Oslo and American wireless charging company Momentum Dynamics to build the fast-charging network.

As part of the move, wireless charging plates are expected to be installed on the road at taxi stands with the receivers placed inside the taxis. This will allow cars waiting in line for passengers to recharge their batteries. The taxis can also move about in the queue while the batteries are being recharged. The system could support induction charging up to 75 kW. One of reasons for a wireless system is the ease of usage. It is considered time consuming for a taxi driver to find a charger, plug it in and then wait for the car to charge.

Oslo aims to have only zero-emission taxis by 2023 and all new cars are expected to be pollution free by 2025. Momentum Dynamics has previously showcased a wireless bus charging system in Wenatchee, Washington on a BYD K9S electric bus.

Norway to install *wireless* charging infra for electric taxis-taxi.jpg

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Last edited by blackwasp : 23rd March 2019 at 15:44.
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Old 25th March 2019, 08:35   #2
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Re: Norway to install *wireless* charging infra for electric taxis

Must really compliment Norway's government. If they want change, they sure as hell pull all stops to get the job done.

Am a bit worried about the health hazards of such large-scale wireless charging though, with all that radiation & electromagnetic fields. How difficult is it to simply plug a wire into your car???
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Old 25th March 2019, 12:26   #3
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Re: Norway to install *wireless* charging infra for electric taxis

I am really interested to learn a bit more. I know the basics of wireless charging, but had no idea it could be used for these sort of applications. Even on something simple as a mobile phone it doesn’t work that well (yet). I had not heard about any application where they are able to charge such big capacity batteries in a short time.

Very interesting development.

Jeroen
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Old 25th March 2019, 13:02   #4
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Re: Norway to install *wireless* charging infra for electric taxis

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeroen View Post
I had not heard about any application where they are able to charge such big capacity batteries in a short time.
I remember reading about this (wireless charging for cars) on some Tesla-related story a while back; did some digging and found this.

Pretty interesting indeed!

https://www.pluglesspower.com/gen2-tech-specs/
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Old 25th March 2019, 21:53   #5
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Re: Norway to install *wireless* charging infra for electric taxis

Hasn't BMW had this for a few months now? The 530e introduced the wireless charging mat. To me it just felt like a fancy gimmick (in its initial avtar) much like gesture control. However, this is just step 1 and eventually this will move from being a garage mat to something that can be used to charge while you drive. I remember seeing this documentary that showed similar mats installed on the roads and the car would charge as you drove along. I guess this is still a few years away but who knows.
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Old 25th March 2019, 22:59   #6
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Re: Norway to install *wireless* charging infra for electric taxis

Having lived in Oslo since the last two years, the focus on EVs is something you will have to see to believe, it also helps that >98% of electricity generated in Norway comes from renewable sources (hydro power is the largest contributor). Norway has seen a record increase in EV sales which is being driven by the benefits it brings in terms of tax savings, toll fees and parking fee waivers/subsidy.
You will also notice how there are several Teslas running as taxis here and when you speak to the taxi drivers they will tell you about having to plan their day around the charging time and limitations on taking on trips when you don't have sufficient charge. With this wireless charging becoming a reality it will definitely drive up the number of taxis that are electric and make it viable to meet the 2023 target set by them to have only emission free taxis.

For those who are interested in further reading on the EV situation in Norway here is a link:
https://insideevs.com/electric-car-lessons-norway/

And if you thought they only cared about cars, this link about how Oslo is aiming for a car free city will make you appreciate their vision. I'm sure for some of us car enthusiasts this is not ideal but a great way to reclaim the streets for the people who aren't driving.

https://www.oslo.kommune.no/english/...ree-city/#gref
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Old 18th June 2019, 09:18   #7
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Inductive Charging of EV Taxis

Norway, where 1 in every 3 new cars sold is electric, is trying out inductive charging for its electric taxis. This is an attempt at solving the biggest issue with electric cars that fleets have: downtime due to long charging cycles.

The technology is quite mature (many of us have by now used wireless charging of cellphones) and scaling it up for cars would require charging plates installed in the road/parking-lot surface and an energy-receiver in the car. Norway is the ideal laboratory for trying it out since large infrastructure changes are easier to push through due to the relatively small population (about the same as Pune+Pimpri+Chinchwad) and due to absence of any local auto manufacturer that would lobby hard to prevent/delay such steps.

Fortum, a clean-energy company that is implementing this, claims charging up to 75kW can be done this way, as per their press release from March.

The recipient car would still need to be stationary, or moving very slowly, for it to receive the charge, so right now all we will achieve is taxis picking up charge at "taxi stands" near airports etc where they are anyway waiting for a fare, thus eliminating the need for building a network of charging infrastructure around cities like petrol pumps, but if this works as hoped, we could see charging plates in parking slots in offices, malls, paid-parking lots and so on.

Looking forward to see how this turns out!

(Here's a good primer on the tech details of wireless/inductive charging of cars)

Last edited by Punatic : 18th June 2019 at 09:23. Reason: (Added technical details)
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