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Seoul Unveils Wirelessly Charged Electric Vehicle
SEOUL, South Korea, March 16, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --
A wirelessly charged
electric vehicle went into service March 9 at the Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon,
Gyeonggi Province. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Korea Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology President Suh Nam-pyo attended a ceremony unveiling the
vehicle held at the Park.
Known as on-line electric vehicle (OLEV), the vehicle powered by
electricity from an electrical charging strip planted about 5cm under the road
surface, is in pilot operation at the theme park. The Seoul Grand Park has
replaced the shuttle trains (called "elephant train") that run on diesel with
the eco-friendly OLEV.
The OLEV developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology (KAIST) is charged wirelessly over a 400-meter long stretch of
electrical strip and runs an additional 400 meters on the charged battery. The
special electrical strip creates a magnetic field that generates magnetic
force. The magnetic force is sent wirelessly to the vehicle and converted into
electricity, which is then used to power the vehicle. At the Seoul Grand Park,
the OLEV will service a 2.2 kilometer-long circular route.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government made the decision to deploy OLEV at the
Seoul Grand Park last August even as KAIST was developing the prototype of the
electric vehicle. The first OLEV was built and the electrical strips were laid
in January. Numerous safety evaluations and test runs to improve efficiency
have been conducted since then.
Tests have shown that the magnetic field used in the system poses no
health risks. By using segmentation technology that provides electricity in
sections, the amount of magnetic field generated is minimized. During a month-
long test run in February the magnetic field generated was measured at below
the international standard of 62.5mG, the city said.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to introduce OLEVs as part of its
public bus transportation system. With buses responsible for meeting about 30
percent of the transportation demand and median bus lanes in place in 25 areas
totaling 90.2 kilometers, wirelessly charged electric buses are an attractive
green alternative for Seoul.
The KAIST-developed OLEV is commercially viable because of the lighter
battery required and because it does not require an extended standby time for
charging. One of the achievements of the KAIST team is the highly efficient
charging system despite the 13cm gap between the road surface and the vehicle.
In fact, many countries have shown interest in the OLEV development as
commercialization of similar vehicles failed in the United States and
elsewhere.
The city, which is pioneering the use of green cars in the country,
believes the OLEV is a solution to Seoul's traffic problems. The city
government plans to lay the foundation for the introduction of OLEV this year.
Projects for this year include deciding the routes and building charging
stations. In an effort to improve air pollution and curb greenhouse gas
emissions, the city plans to deploy green cars in all its public
transportation systems, including taxis and buses, by 2020. The city
government's fleet of official cars will also be replaced by green cars.
Last year, Seoul led the way in introducing green cars by becoming the
first city in the country to operate hybrid taxis.
* Additional information and images can be downloaded from the server
below:
-- URL: http://www.webhard.co.kr
-- ID: seoulpress / PW: seoul2010
-- Folder Name: 06. OLEV
For the Appendix, please click into the following link:
http://www.prnasia.com/sa/attachment/2010/03/20100316991727.pdf
Division in Charge
Air Quality Management Division:
Yoonjin Cho
yoonjin@seoul.go.kr
Tel: +82-2-2115-7796
Press Relations
International Press Relations Team
press@seoul.go.kr
Tel: +82-2-3707-8768, +82-2-6321-4055
Herald Media:
Jiro Kim
jiro@heraldm.com
Tel: +82-2-727-0073 / +82-10-3763-1080
SOURCE Seoul Metropolitan Government
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