ŠKODA Transportation announced on March 5 that it has completed testing and certification of its new Catfree catenary-free propulsion system for light rail vehicles, which has been undergoing trials at the company's facility in Plzen, Czech Republic.
The energy storage system has been fitted to a 32.5m-long28T low-floor LRV for the Turkish city of Konya and certification has been carried out by a Notified Body and witnessed by a customer.
Škoda says the Catfree-equipped vehicle can cover a distance of up to 3km without overhead electrification at an average speed of 30km/h, operating under normal city traffic conditions.
Apparently annother battery or super-capacitor system, and Breda and Alstom and Bombardier have similar systems.
This just sounds like a hi-tech version of a very old concept, the battery-powered streetcar. Up to 3 km is just under 2 miles, so the range beyond catenary is not terribly impressive. I would also assume that such a vehicle would still depend on overhead wire to supply energy for much of its trip.
Agree. And several small French cities already have such systems, and others have the modern version of the conduit system, which is exposed contacts that are energized only when the car is over them.
3K is a rather limited range, even for in city transportation, although it would allow for transit between Cat territories.
What would be the charging time until it could go 3K again?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
CSSHEGEWISCHI would also assume that such a vehicle would still depend on overhead wire to supply energy for much of its trip.
I'd think either conduit or induction charging would be better choices. I'd suspect that either one could be provided at stations with minimal marginal cost ... although the 'elephant in the room' for any of these systems is what happens when the car is kept away from ANY charge source during periods where the ancillary loads such as HVAC are high. (In my opinion, the thing to do is put small gensets or power taps in very small vehicles like Smart Cars (finally a genuine use for the things! ;-}) and arrange for them to be driven to any place a car needs 'hotel power'... or a boost.)
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