The first electric bus to be powered by a zero-emission zinc-air battery is to
start a series of test track trials in the United States, to show it can cope
with the rigours of city and suburban driving.
The bus has been developed by the USA-based Electric Fuel company, with half
the funding provided by America’s Federal Transit Administration, which
wants to examine whether it can promote the technology as a way of providing
‘clean’ mass public transport.
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Although zinc-air batteries have been used for a long time in other much smaller
applications, such as hearing aids, Electric Fuel has developed a battery which
holds much more energy than before and also which has considerably more power
– the new zinc-air battery contains four times as much energy as a lead-acid
battery weighing the same amount.
The company thinks that the technology would suit a transit bus system, because
a single refuelling centre could be used easily by a large number of vehicles.
During the course of the testing this summer in New York, the company hopes
to show that the full-length, 40-feet-long, electric vehicle meets all requirements
of a transit bus, including range, acceleration and the ability to operate with
power-consuming auxiliary equipment such as air conditioning.
More tests on real roads are due to be carried out later this year.
The testing will include constant-velocity driving, typical of suburban transit
systems, as well as urban stop-and-go cycles such as the industry standard CBD-14
transit duty cycle.
Electric Fuel has been promoting the invention since late 1998, via a Zinc-Air
Electric Transit Bus Programme, aimed at demonstrating the ability of the company’s
patented zinc-air fuel cell system to power a full-size, all-electric transit
bus, providing a full day’s range for heavy-duty city and suburban routes, under
all weather conditions.
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