17 January
We’re leading the way trialling new charging technology with ‘wireless’ electric taxis. Funding from Innovate UK will allow us to trial wireless ‘pads’ which are placed in taxi ranks so cabs can charge while they wait. This reduces the need for dedicated charge points and enables multiple cabs to charge at once as they move up the rank.
We’re already on track to have one of the greenest taxi fleets in the country as all city hackney cabs will be Euro 6 diesel or ULEV by summer 2020. As a city we have been chosen to trial this exciting new technology given our track record for promoting electric vehicles and embracing new technology.
The £761,000 in funding will cover the installation of the wireless charging ‘pads’ and nine new electric cabs which drivers will be able to trial.
Councillor Sally Longford, Nottingham City Council’s portfolio holder for Energy and the Environment said, “Once again Nottingham is at the forefront of new transport technology, the future is undoubtedly electric but hopefully it can be wireless too! Making our taxis cleaner will help to improve air quality and take us closer to our goal of being carbon neutral by 2028.
“We already have the largest fleet of electric taxis outside of London and having nine more clean cabs on our streets is a great step forward. We’re really excited to be part of this trial which will make charging easier for our cab drivers, while testing new technology.
The project will be delivered in two phases from 2020-2022. Phase one in 2020/21 will see the purchase of all nine taxis, 4x LEVC and 5x Dynamo, with up to three being fit with the wireless technology initially. Wireless charge pads will be installed at our Eastcroft depot as part of a controlled trial before launching on a live taxi rank.
The second phase commencing in 2021/2022 will see the introduction of the charging pads into a suitable city centre taxi rank, and the remaining taxis fitted with the necessary technology.
