Where we’re going we don’t need wires – Edgbaston
Ian Walmsley
Pan Up
The tests on the first battery-fitted tram for commercial service in the UK have just been completed on the Midland Metro. Fresh back from Zaragoza, tram No 18 now sports a lithium battery power pack on the roof of the driving vehicles storing up to 40kWh. In tests that was enough to take it 29.12km, with battery charge level going from 95% down to 10%. Keeping charge level in the mid-band is important for battery life, which is forecast to be seven years in this application.
WOT? NO WIRES?
