Power Flow simulation for Electric City Buses with Inductive Power Transfer Technology

This work describes the study of power flows inside an electric commuter bus with a propulsion system that is powered wirelessly while the vehicle drives along its realistic daily trajectory in the context of public transport. The necessary energy is transferred along the trajectory through inductive coupling, from coils integrated in the road to an on-board power pick-up element in the vehicle. This transfer of power can happen dynamically, while driving, or when the vehicle is at standstill, something that occurs regularly along the trajectory of a bus for public transport. The insight in the distribution and intended use of these power pick-up pads is one of the objectives and obtained results of this simulation study. Moreover, these different geographically spread external power inputs are considered together with the possibility of use of on-board rechargeable energy storage systems, with the purpose of being able to formulate optimized strategies for the design of an inductively powered electric public transport system.