Heriot-Watt University, located near Edinburgh, Scotland, is planning a trial of wireless charging using electric delivery vans.

The joint project with the City of Edinburgh Council and Flexible Power Systems (FPS) is due to start in the spring. It will involve specially-adapted vans, with charging equipment from Momentum Dynamics. The agency Innovation UK provided funding for the trial.

The vehicle is parked above a ground-mounted charging pad, and a receiver pad attached to the bottom of the chassis sends power to the battery.

The trial will also explore the concept of charging hubs, which could be shared among multiple fleet operators.

“The project is testing the sharing of charging hubs [among] logistics, retailers, local government and university-owned commercial vehicles,” said FPS Managing Director Michael Ayres. “These charging hubs require high use to be economically viable. The project uses powerful wireless charging to shorten the time vehicles need to be in the charging hubs.”

“We are already deploying electric vehicles across our fleet and looking at ways we can drive adoption in the wider community,” said Edinburgh Council Fleet Manager Scott Millar. “Providing charging infrastructure like shared hubs has the potential to remove barriers to uptake for both the council and the community.”

Source: The Scotsman