Taxi Driver Online

Nottingham trials UK’s first wireless electric taxis on its ambitious journey to carbon neutrality

https://www.transportnottingham.com/not ... eutrality/

Cabbies in Nottingham can now wirelessly charge their electric taxis as part of a pioneering Government-backed trial which underlines the city’s ambitions to become the UK’s first carbon neutral city by 2028.

The groundbreaking scheme has seen nine electric hackney cabs retrofitted with the latest, super-efficient wireless charging technology to power local journeys. The public can use the trailblazing new taxis from this week, at a specially upgraded rank outside Nottingham Station.

Nineteen local taxi drivers have so far volunteered to test a free cab to help Nottingham City Council and its project partners closely monitor the trial and share learnings with the Government to help shape future regulations and delivery of wireless charging projects.

This project will help partners discover the advantages and issues of this technology and iron out any problems.

Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis (WiCET) is a £3.4 million project funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK to assess the commercial and technical viability of deploying wireless charging for electric hackney cabs.

The City Council secured £930,000 from the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK for the WiCET project. This is a UK first involving both London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) and Nissan Dynamo electric taxis, placing Nottingham at the forefront of green technology innovation.

It is expected that the trial of the wireless charging technology will demonstrate a range of benefits, including:

Easy and convenient charging – drivers will be able to start a charge while waiting for passengers by driving over the pad without needing to leave their vehicle

Reducing street clutter – no charging cables are required as the wireless charging equipment is built into the road surface

Encouraging the adoption of more electric taxis in the city, which will lead to a reduction in emissions and help the city to achieve its 2028 carbon neutral target.

The project is led by Cenex, with partners Coventry University, Hangar-19, Nottingham City Council, Shell Research Limited, Sprint Power and Transport for London, with Lumen Freedom supplying the hardware.

Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Transport and Parks, Councillor Audra Wynter, said: “I’m delighted to see Nottingham’s UK-leading wireless taxis hit the streets. This amazing new technology will make it easy and convenient for taxi drivers to charge their vehicles on-street between passengers and make a big difference in local air quality.

“This is another example of Nottingham leading the way in transport innovation, as we lead the country to become carbon neutral by 2028.”

Richard Sander, WiCET Project Manager and Technical Specialist at Cenex, said:

“Wireless charging has the potential for effective deployment across a wide range of applications from public transport to emergency vehicles and mobility solutions, and the results from our research will go on to inform future deployments.

“We are extremely proud to be starting the first physical trial of Wireless Charging of taxis in the UK here in Nottingham. This is a big step in understanding and demonstrating the potential of wireless charging as a core technology in the Electric Vehicle transition.

“Everyone involved in the project has worked hard behind the scenes to get us to this point, and I’m excited to see the impacts this will have for drivers, passengers and the environment.”.

The wireless taxi project is another example of Nottingham being at the forefront of new technologies and forms of transport – its launch coming in the same week that Nottingham announced an incredible 57% drop in carbon dioxide emissions since 2005.

The Council’s Future Transport Zone Programme is overseeing several projects, including the e-scooter rental trial, sharing fleet vehicle charge point infrastructure with other local councils lo and piloting new ‘mobility hubs’ which will bring different forms of transport together alongside public realm improvements in residential areas. The city also boasts an extensive tram network powered by green electricity, while 30% of the city’s buses are either electric or run on biogas.

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There's a YouTube video of the rank in action here - or at least a mock-up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vued1my7XAg

So many questions, and obviously it all looks very neat and tidy in the video and in the PR/comms blather at the top of the thread, but how would it work in practice?

For a start, when the passengers approach the rank at about 2.30 minutes, it all looks hunky dory, but can you imagine that in reality, particularly if it's busy?

And can you imagine a rank like that servicing the pishhead market?

Another stand-out for me is that the normal rank is directly alongside. So which rank has priority, and which is closest to the station exit?

At quieter times, whichever rank is best-placed for the exit will get all the work. Just the thing to set drivers against each other

and of course this is further from the station entrance than the taxis used to be so punters need to travel a short way to find the cabs

it is also highly unlikely drunks would head across to there looking for a cab as the heart of the city is elsewhere which is where all the PH hang about "not ranking" which was the source of many and frequent stories on here in the past

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I wonder how long it will be before the Electro magnetic wave radiation from powerful wireless chargers are linked to Brain Tumours and cancers in the same way as living near powerlines have.

Yes, and that's why I said 'a rank like that' rather than 'that rank'

Anyways, reading between the lines of the PR blurb here, anyone else think the trial has thrown up a shedload of problems, but 'lessons will be learnt', sort of thing

And they've even found a tame driver who thinks it was all fantastic


Nottingham wraps up UK-first wireless electric charging trial

https://www.mynottinghamnews.co.uk/nott ... ing-trial/

Nottingham City Council’s UK-first wireless electric taxi charging trial is wrapping up this week, with the wireless charging infrastructure being removed from Trent Street.

The space used for the trial will return to a normal taxi rank in the coming days once the works are completed.

Since the trial began four months ago, almost 1,000 wireless charging events have taken place by over 20 taxi drivers.

Feedback from taxi drivers has been positive, with many appreciating the convenience and time-saving aspects of wireless charging. Introducing wireless charging into the public highway has provided some important learning for how future projects could be introduced. Many drivers said they would appreciate faster charging, with the existing system offering a 10kW charging rate.

Nottingham became home to the ground-breaking trial after the council secured £930,000 from the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK. Five wireless charging pads were installed at the Trent Street rank and nine council owned electric taxis – five London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) and four Nissan Dynamo – were fitted with wireless charging hardware to enable convenient charging without the need for cables.

The vehicles were loaned for free to licenced taxi drivers to experience the technology first-hand. The council and its project partners closely monitored how well the wireless charging system worked during the trial, to give feedback and learning to Government to help shape future regulations and inform how wireless charging projects could be delivered.

Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Transport and Parks, Councillor Audra Wynter, said: “Our transport teams have now completed this pioneering project. Now we’re working to get lots of useful insights and data fed back to the Government to help make plans for how convenient and accessible charging infrastructure can be rolled out to support electric vehicles use in the future.”

Kulvinder, a taxi driver who took part in the trial said: “It’s a brilliant idea. I enjoyed wireless charging every day. I would charge and then get a customer. It saved me time. I would like faster wireless charging in the future.”

Trent Street will also see some Transforming Cities-funded improvements later this spring as the road and footpaths are resurfaced, incorporating a shared use path for pedestrians and cyclists.

• Road resurfacing

• New city paved footpaths

• Western path widened (arches side) to accommodate shared facility for pedestrians and cyclists, providing links between Station Street and onward cycle routes along Canal Street and the Beeston to Nottingham Canal

• Existing taxi ranks will remain

Works are expected to start in May 2023 until July 2023.

Yes, with a car on a free loan from the council

Doubt a driver forced to buy an EV in the likes of Glasgow (say) would be quite so enthusiastic