Ultracapacitor Bus Recharges At Each Stop

TechReviewAl writes "A US company and its Chinese partner are piloting a bus powered by ultracapacitors in Washington DC. Ultracapacitors lack the capacity of regular batteries but are considerably cheaper and can be recharge completely in under a minute. Sinautec Automobile Technologies, based in Arlington, VA, and its Chinese partner, Shanghai Aowei Technology Development Company, have spent the past three years demonstrating the approach with 17 municipal buses on the outskirts of Shanghai. The executive director of Sinautec touts the energy efficiency of this approach: 'Even if you use the dirtiest coal plant on the planet [to charge an ultracapacitor], it generates a third of the carbon dioxide of diesel.'"

Comments

Re:Isn't this the same as a trolley?

[moosesocks]

This paradoxically works out in favor of the trolley lines, given that they tend to attract economic development to them. Bus routes don't do the same, given that they (as you mentioned) tend to be ephemeral. The permanence of a trolley line also greatly helps with rider usability, as users don't have to keep up with route changes.

Streetcars also don't tend to have "stations" as much as they have an area designated for them to stop where the curb happens to be flat and level. (Many bus stops are also now being built in this fashion)

Portland, OR claims that its streetcar line has spurred billions of dollars of investment in the area surrounding it in a very short period of time.