Skip to main content

Toshiba develops electric-powered bus with short charging time

Small buses owned by Tokyo's Minato Ward, in Japan, will be retrofitted by with new motors and lithium-ion cells developed by electronics major Toshiba. In fiscal 2013, the Ward aims to start full operations of the electric-powered buses and conduct pilot runs by end-fiscal 2012. The Ward intends to deploy the buses for short journeys in housing locations, as the buses need to be recharged after a trip about 12km in a bid to maintain the battery level higher than 50 per cent. At this level of battery status
May 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Small buses owned by Tokyo's Minato Ward, in Japan, will be retrofitted by with new motors and lithium-ion cells developed by electronics major 5392 Toshiba. In fiscal 2013, the Ward aims to start full operations of the electric-powered buses and conduct pilot runs by end-fiscal 2012.

The Ward intends to deploy the buses for short journeys in housing locations, as the buses need to be recharged after a trip about 12km in a bid to maintain the battery level higher than 50 per cent. At this level of battery status, the buses only require five minutes of charging time, which is a quarter of time needed with regular lithium-ion battery.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bespoke ITS is helping to reduced collisions on America’s rural roads
    October 22, 2014
    David Crawford cherrypicks conference and award highlights Almost 30% of all US citizens live in rural areas or very small communities, and 34 of the 50 states exceed this level in their own populations, with the proportions rising as high as 85%. And although rural routes carry only 35% of all traffic, the accidents that occur on them account for some 54% of all US road traffic accident deaths.
  • Cold efficiency
    July 24, 2012
    Tools to support operational decisions in winter maintenance can remove subjectivity and increase efficiency; Vaisala's Danny Johns talks about latest developments Even the presence of trees at the roadside can have an effect on temperature An effective Road Weather Information System (RWIS) network can save a local road authority or jurisdiction tens of thousands of dollars or Euros'-worth of labour and consumables in a single night. Get those winter maintenance operations right over just three or four nig
  • Zero-emission hybrid-electric truck evaluation
    February 2, 2012
    Vision Industries, which has been marketing its Class 8 zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell hybrid-electric truck for more than a year, is working with the Port of Los Angeles to further evaluate its performance in the rigorous port trucking environment.
  • Philippines, Laos ready to introduce EVs
    August 12, 2013
    According to a major Japanese newspaper, Japanese carmakers see potentially profitable business opportunities in the south-east Asian EV market, with the Philippines and Laos keen to introduce electric vehicles and make EV production a key industry. The Philippines is about to embark on a programme to replace its conventional petrol-driven tricycle taxis, widely used for transportation over short distance, with EVs. With loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Philippines will invest US$500 million