The Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc I-Pace electric vehicle (EV) is displayed during the 2018 New … [+]
Jaguar Land Rover will provide 25 of its electric I-Pace model to Oslo, Norway’s ElectriCity program, in what likely will be the world’s first fleet of wireless taxis.
The Nordic taxi operator Carbonline; Norway’s Fortum Recharge, a supplier of charging stations, and Momentum Dynamics, a Malvern, Pa.-based developer of automatic wireless charging systems, will co-operate to deliver the necessary infrastructure for the vehicles, which the partners expect to begin service in 2024.
The I-Pace has been designed to be compatible with Momentum Dynamics’ wireless charging technology.
Carbonline’s taxi drivers will be able to recharge up to 50 kilowatts in less than eight minutes, according to a Jaguar Land Rover press release. There are no cables or physical connections required to recharge the vehicles.
They can receive multiple charges throughout the day so their vehicles can remain in service around the clock with no range restrictions.
“We’re extremely proud of our track record in electrification and we’re committed to making electric vehicles easier to own and use,” Sir Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover CEO, said in a statement. “The taxi industry is the ideal test bed for wireless charging, and indeed for high-mileage electric mobility across the board.”
The partnership with Oslo ElectriCity is the latest effort in JLR’s strategy to achieve zero emissions, zero accidents and zero congestion by the end of this decade. Norway has mandated that all new cars sold in the country have zero emissions by 2025, as part of a broader national intiative to become carbon neutral by 2030.
“We’re delighted to welcome private enterprises to help us to turn our vision into reality,” said Arild Hermstad, Oslo’s vice mayor for environment and transport.
In 2018, JLR committed to supply up to 20,000 I-Paces to Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit, for deployment in test fleets.
Oslo’s wireless charging network is believed to be the first in a metropolitan area.
