Phoang City's e-bus Pilot Project

The Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs announced that it will launch a test operation of “automatically battery switching electric buses” which are known as an environmentally friendly means of transport. Unlike existing EVs, which are charged through plug-in, the automatic battery switching electric buses have easily accessible batteries to allow swift battery swapping at bus stops while the buses are in operation and before the batteries are completely drained. The Ministry plans to establish a battery switching electric bus system on Pohang City’s Facilities Management Corporation shuttle bus route, at a cost of 2.5 billion KRW (additional 1.3 billion KRW from the local government), and to provide technical and administrative support. The route is about 22 km and has three bus stops (Figure 26.2). Major equipment and facilities include two electric buses, one battery swap facility (Figure 26.3), and six batteries. The Ministry announced that it plans to establish the e-bus system after a final consultation with the City of Pohang on how to operate the system and to initiate the test operation for the public beginning in 2013, after safety verification.

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