friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
This is very cool!

London using eBus pantograph charging to spark a green future (ChargingInfrastructure) - London Reconnections

The leading source for independent news and analysis about transport in London and beyond. Award-winning coverage of transport infrastructure and politics alongside stories about the history of the Capital's transport networks.
Long Branch Mike (London Reconnections)
in reply to FediThing

mastodon - Link to source

Kincaid

@FediThing @stevelord well yes, the bus that charges at each stop will have a bigger battery than a trolley bus but much smaller than a non-cantilever type. And doesn't require *very* expensive line work, and can go anywhere ( in Notts at least it wasn't the car that killed the tram/trolley, it was the diesel motorbus that was far more convenient than fixed route trolleys)
@Steve Lord @FediThing
in reply to FediThing

mastodon - Link to source

FediThing

I can't find it now, but there was a relatively recent video about trolley buses which ran along overhead lines when possible but had enough battery to skip between them if there was a diversion. That apparently made the installation/convenience costs lower as it didn't have to be 100% coverage.

Wonder if this system could become a stepping stone to something like that? Maybe have charging lines running along the most popular streets that have lots of buses, to reduce the minimum battery size required for the average journey?

This entry was edited (2 years ago)
in reply to FediThing

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Sarah Brown

@FediThing @Kincaid @Steve Lord Can’t see the quest to save weight at the expense of installing large scale physical infra structure and limiting routes to be that worth it, TBH.

Battery tech is improving all the time, and if your concern is about lithium availability, sodium ion batteries may be the future.

Betting against cheap plentiful EV storage batteries coming along soon seems like a bad bet, to me. There is so much money being thrown at it, and given the amount of “EV bad” FUD that’s currently doing the rounds, I suspect the oil companies are frightened as hell.

@Kincaid @Steve Lord @FediThing
in reply to Sarah Brown

mastodon - Link to source

FediThing

"Battery tech is improving all the time, and if your concern is about lithium availability, sodium ion batteries may be the future."

Couldn't we just use trolley buses until that happens?

It might not happen at all, and if we're not so dependent on batteries it wouldn't matter.

Also, if we used more trolley buses, the trolley bus tech would improve too?

This entry was edited (2 years ago)
in reply to FediThing

mastodon - Link to source

Kincaid

@FediThing @stevelord the marginal cost between a trolley electric and pit-stop-charging bus battery will be negligable - electric double deck bus costs £450K, (diesel is £300K) says google, for reference. More google says £200 per kilowatt hour, big 300kwhr battery is £70K, so you'd save maybe 50K per bus

Overhead line gear is in the millions per km on a good day... and then you have to *still buy a bus*.

Or buy 4 or 5 go anywhere buses

Wires for trams great. Buses, nah

@Steve Lord @FediThing
in reply to FediThing

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Sarah Brown

@FediThing @Kincaid @Steve Lord As I said, were I investing in this, I would not bet against battery tech. That’s a sucker bet.

The problem with covering cities in metal string for trolley buses is not a technical one. We know how to do it. We’ve known how to do it for over a century. Technically it’s a solved problem.

The problem is social and logístical.

It’s entirely possible, of course, that trolley buses are the right horse to back, in the same way that it’s entirely possible that everyone in between me and the throne of England will die tomorrow and leave me to inherit it.

It’s not gonna happen through.

@Kincaid @Steve Lord @FediThing
⇧