1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,280 As electric vehicles become more and more prominent on our roads, and charging capacity 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,720 more and more of an issue, Norway has come up with a clever, broad-view solution for its fleet 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:17,120 of taxis called Electricity. In the future, it might take in far more vehicles too. The 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,680 Nordic country has already committed to requiring all new cars sold from 2025 onwards are electric, 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:27,560 and intends to build an entirely emission-free taxi service to assist in its lofty aims. With 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,880 charging time an efficiency-limiting factor, for electric commercial vehicles in particular, 7 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,200 they'll be doing this by charging the cabs wirelessly through the taxi rank they sit on 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,160 as the taxis wait to be hired. This saves in several ways. No need to hunt out an available 9 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:46,360 charger, no need to wait separately for a charge and to be hired, and no need to plug in or unplug 10 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:51,320 when a fare arrives, all in which to save precious time in which to earn. In the industry, after all, 11 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:57,160 time is money. The charging will take place through a process called induction. To facilitate the in-place 12 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,400 charging, charging plates are to be installed under the road where the taxis will park up, 13 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:06,840 and a receiver located in each taxi. This will allow for charging at up to 75 kilowatts entirely 14 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:12,040 without cables. Induction charging works through the principle of electromagnetic induction, 15 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:17,240 whereby an electric charge sent through a thick coil of wire is used to generate an electric current, 16 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,960 the force of which in turn generates an electric current in a second coil some distance away. 17 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:25,960 The process does require that the device to be charged is relatively near to the coil, 18 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:30,920 and so the process is sometimes called near-field charging. As it is not absolutely precise like 19 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,480 the connection of a cable however, this is relatively simple to set up between a taxi and a static 20 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,880 location, so long as the positioning of the vehicle is relatively accurate, something that can be 21 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,680 easily achieved through normal parking. Naturally, such a process would be of limited green benefit 22 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:50,200 unless the electricity being supplied to the taxis was already from a green source. Electric cars can be 23 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:54,520 much greener than their petrol equivalent, but only where care is taken that the electrical source 24 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:59,640 is better for the environment than the petrol it's replacing. Fortunately, Norway has that covered too, 25 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,880 with the country's ever-improving mix of hydro and wind energy, one of the greenest energy 26 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,840 supplies in any country in the world, as well as the world's highest rate of electric vehicle ownership. 27 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:14,040 At the heart of the program is a Finnish clean energy company, Fortum, through their Charge and Drive program. 28 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:19,240 The company are long-time collaborators with Norway's taxi industry, with a particular focus on the ease of 29 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,560 infrastructure, and will be heavily involved in the setup of the earliest parts of this project. 30 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,640 Major car firms like Jaguar and Land Rover are also stepping up to the plate. 31 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:32,440 The very first step is expected to be active in 2023, and will involve the installation of 32 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:37,000 charging stations at the taxi rank outside the main station in Capital City, Oslo. 33 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:42,360 The process is relatively slow, as beyond the digging up of the road for installation outside the main station, 34 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,560 it also requires all the taxis are set up for charging. Taxis will be able to drive up to the charger, 35 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:52,520 and a wireless charging session will automatically start, Annika Hofner, head of the project said. 36 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,840 This allows the taxis to charge in a place where they would anyway be waiting for new customers. 37 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,280 The difference is that they won't be emitting exhaust while waiting. Instead, 38 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,640 they will be receiving renewable energy to charge the taxi's battery. 39 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:08,760 Whilst this is simply an early step, Norway is a logical place to take such a step towards a wider 40 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,480 network. As well as its broadly green approach to energy, the Nordic country also has one of the 41 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,880 strongest markets for electric vehicles in the world. In the long term though, there could be 42 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,680 far wider applications to this kind of technology. There's already research taking place into how to 43 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:27,480 charge cars as they travel. While putting a charging coil in a single location, or several single 44 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:32,600 locations such as in the taxi ranks, is an affordable option, doing the same down an entire street for 45 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,480 on-the-move charging is far more challenging in terms of both cost and expanding the technology beyond 46 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:43,480 a single industry. That said, Renault began looking at the idea way back in 2012, creating a route on 47 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:48,280 the outskirts of Paris that enabled the ongoing charging of two of their Kangol electric vehicles 48 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:53,480 as they drove. While the main aim is a kind of grazing charging, adding to the battery between larger 49 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:58,840 charges, this could, in theory, allow indefinite driving, especially perhaps in combination with 50 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:04,120 self-driving car technology. In practice, the bigger benefits are on the green energy side, as well as 51 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:09,320 potentially allowing both greater ranges and smaller batteries in future electric cars. The huge 52 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:14,200 infrastructure challenges do mean its everyday use is not on the immediate horizon. For now, 53 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,920 Norway and its taxi industry might just be the perfect testing ground. The country already has the 54 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,320 highest rate of electric vehicles in the world, and its relatively small population allows for changes 55 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:28,200 like this to be made fairly quickly and unobtrusively. Also, Norway is not the home of a single 56 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:32,840 automotive company likely to lobby against the changes, and so is free to put in place all kinds of 57 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:37,160 benefits for switching to electric without any excessive lobbying or economic pressure. 58 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:42,280 Benefits for electric car use so far have included free or discounted road tolls, parking and charging 59 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:47,560 points, and a tax exemption. The number of purchased new cars that are electric is closing in on half of 60 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:52,200 all new vehicles in the country, so the process is well underway. Would you like to see money invested 61 00:04:52,200 --> 00:05:04,520 in areas like this in your country? What's the best way forward? Tell us in the comments.