The UK is launching a wireless electric vehicle charging trial. The initiative is first in the UK and will take place in Nottingham. The trial is titled as WiCET that expands to Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis. As part of the trial, nine electric taxis will be launched. These taxis will also go by the name WiCET.
The WiCET project is funded by the UK Office for Zero-Emission Vehicles (OZEV) as part of Innovate UK’s on-street wireless charging (OSWC) projects. The nine taxis that will roam around the streets of Nottingham will have five plug-in hybrid LEVC TX taxis and four all-electric Nissan Dynamo Taxis. The taxis will have a banner that reads “This electric taxi will charge wirelessly.”
In simple terms, the taxis will be charged wirelessly upon parking on the induction pads which are built on the taxi rank street. The induction pads will help the cars to recharge the battery. The taxis will be available to everyone. It will collect data regarding journey distances and battery level during its journey. The project team states that wireless charging will ensure better services. It can also utilize the charging time which was required earlier to charge its battery. An exclusive billing system will be introduced to charge the drivers rightly for the amount of electricity used.
The trial is set for six months and will conclude in March 2022. Upon completion, the analysis on how effective the technology is, will be made. This is to prove the efficiency of wireless charging. The project has an estimate of 3.4 million pounds and will be funded by Innovate UK.
