Source: Physorg
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) seem to have created a new type of electric bus called the Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV). Instead of the trolleys you normally see in places like Vancouver or San Francisco, its powered by charging wirelessly through the ground using magnetic charging strips and is able to cut costs of electric vehicles to an estimated third of the cost of the current system. The test bus only needs 400 m out of the 2.2 km to have the strips installed in the ground and its claimed that only 20% of the Seoul bus routes would need strips installed at places buses spend more time. The technology is not all new though. The article says it was originally developed at the University of California-Berkley but ended without any tangible results.
There are plans in the works to test out a bus route in Seoul and to transport delegates who will attend the G20 summit using the new system. I’m not going to hold my breathe, but I’m always glad to see technology moving in the right direction (hopefully).
Check out the article for yourself over here at PHYSORG.
