Construction is underway on a UK-first project to trial wireless charging for hackney cabs in Nottingham.
Situated in a taxi rank on Trent Street, next to Nottingham railway station, the Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis (WiCET) project will involve both London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) and Nissan Dynamo electric taxis.
So far, the fencing is complete, safety systems are installed, road markings are painted and four out of five wireless charging pads have been installed.
What’s more, nine electric and hybrid taxis have been fitted with wireless charging equipment.
Local drivers will be able to use the vehicles to charge wirelessly and provide feedback to the project team to help understand the real-world feasibility of wireless charging and to help develop the technology further.
Hackney cab drivers who take part in the trial will receive a free loan of a wireless charging taxi for 30-60 days.
According to Nottingham City Council, it is hoped that taxi drivers will top up their charge throughout the day while they wait for customers to significantly reduce down time spent away from the rank using plug in chargers.
WiCET is a £3.4m project funded by Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK to assess the commercial and technical viability of deploying wireless charging for electric Hackney Carriages.
The project is led by Cenex, with partners Coventry University, Hangar-19, Nottingham City Council, Shell Research, Sprint Power and Transport for London, with Lumen Freedom supplying the hardware.
The trial is set to start later this summer.
