![Embedded directly into the roadway, WAVE systems will provide en-route charging to AVTA’s battery electric buses, extending their range. [contributed]](https://theavtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/AVTA-electric-bus-fleet.jpg)
Embedded directly into the roadway, WAVE systems provide en-route charging to AVTA’s battery electric buses, extending their range.
“This is yet another important step in AVTA’s transformational push to go completely zero emission by 2018,” stated AVTA Board Chairman Marvin Crist. “The acquisition of these chargers strengthens the infrastructural foundations that will allow our zero emission fleet to seamlessly complete any route within AVTA’s jurisdiction.”
The new chargers were funded as part of AVTA’s successful application to the statewide Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, which also won money for up to 29 new battery electric buses.
The May 24, 2016 vote paves the way for installation work to begin. Utah-based WAVE will install systems beginning this year and throughout 2017.
WAVE technology transfers power through the air, from an embedded charging pad placed in the pavement to a receiving pad mounted on the vehicle’s undercarriage seven to eight inches above, minimizing the need for on-board power storage. Once operational, the WAVE en-route chargers will allow AVTA’s electric buses to charge during layovers as passengers board and disembark.
This “top-off” charge capability extends the range of AVTA’s electric bus fleet. The new systems will supplement the WAVE chargers that are currently being installed at Lancaster City Park and at the Palmdale Transportation Center, according to the transit agency.
“WAVE is honored to have been chosen to play a role in AVTA’s pioneering drive to go completely zero emission,” stated Michael Masquelier, WAVE’s chief executive officer. “We look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership with AVTA and are proud to help bring clean transit to the communities of the Antelope Valley.”
[Information via news release from the Antelope Valley Transit Authority.]
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Go Green says
Zero emissions my butt! Where the heck do they think the electricity is coming from when these overpriced experiments are charging at night? Oh, that’s right. Electricity comes from the plug in the wall.
When the sun goes down, the coal, oil, and gas powered plants are recharging the batteries. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially in the case of gas plants.
There are also EMF emissions to deal with, and the emissions generated from producing batteries.
What’s going to happen when the grant money runs out?
Tim Scott says
While the “zero” claim is obviously false, there’s no question that the internal combustion engine is the least efficient use of fuel ever devised. It delivers a lot of power from a small engine, which made cars and buses and such possible, but even if you consider the emissions from a central power generating plant getting rid of individual vehicle internal combustion is a good goal.
As to the EMF emissions…in a world full of cell phones stuck to people’s heads, television and computer monitor screens blasting at our eyeballs, and all the rest of the stuff we are exposing ourselves to I can’t get really excited about these embedded chargers. Maybe if you went down to the transfer center and laid down on the pavement for several hours a day you could make them a problem, but other than that i don’t see it.
On batteries, the environmental issue that matters more than the emissions from production would be the disposal of batteries that wear out. The number of stories of “licensed hazardous waste handlers” pocketing huge profits while just dumping stuff down storm drains is not trivial.
JP says
Those are very valid points, Tim Scott. If we converted more central power generating plants to natural gas instead of coal, that would go a long way in lowering overall emissions.
More solar, wind, and hydroelectric generation will help, too. However, with solar it is important not to destroy the land as is the case of much of what is happening locally.
Dr. Shock says
Zero emissions my ass. What about EMF emissions.
Doug says
Different kind of emmisikn, but that was surely a concern of mine also.
Laughing says
Same concern here, how will affect me as I drive over it and how will it affect wildlife? I am hoping it is not always on but rather turns on via a signal from the bus overhead.