Utah State University has unveiled a new mass transport electric vehicle called the Aggie Bus that is charged via wireless charging technology tested by USU's Wireless Power Transfer team.
The charger uses wireless power transfer(WPT)pads created by USU faculty and student researchers based on modern advances in engineering and Nikola Tesla's principles of induction.
The system can charge the batteries up to 5kW with 90%electrical transfer efficiency over a 10 inch air gap and offer the same charging if the pad is misaligned up to six inches.
The Utah Transit Authority along with WAVE plan to launch the first model of the bus powered by the 50kW variant of the WPT pads that will carry students around the campus.
The expenditure will be paid by the USU and a$2.7m grant received from the US Federal Transit Administration(FTA),a sub-agency of the US Department of Transportation(USDOT)for the project.
WAVE CEO Wesley Smith said that the company solves the current battery limitation problem by charging the bus wirelessly during its daily operations when the bus stops to load and off-load passengers.
"This technology makes electric buses competitive with their diesel hybrid and CNG counterparts,"Smith added.
