WiCET (Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis) is a demonstration project funded by OZEV, as one of Innovate UK’s portfolio of on-street wireless charging (OSWC) projects, to assess the commercial and technical viability of deploying wireless charging for electric Hackney Carriages.
Nine vehicles will be fitted with wireless charging hardware and used in a practical demonstrator in Nottingham for a three month period to show how the concept of taxi rank based charging can work and how the billing system can operate.
The project will develop a vehicle interface to enable wireless charging systems to be either retrofitted on to an electric vehicle or fitted by an OEM as a “factory option”; a vehicle identification and billing system will be developed to ensure that drivers are correctly charged for the electricity used.
The outcomes of this demonstrator will be to prove the technical and commercial case for the wireless charging of Hackney Carriages in medium and large cities.
It also endorses the UK as an international leader in demonstrating the potential of new and emerging technologies in the field of clean mobility, meeting aspirations set out in the Government’s Road to Zero Strategy.