Two cordless rechargeable electric buses will be put in service on a pilot program in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea from today. This will be the first time in the world for this eco-friendly form of transport to be available. The eco-friendly bus houses a rechargeable battery that picks up electricity from five sets of power lines embedded in the 24-kilomter test course between Gumi and Indong, North Gyeongsang Province.The 25-seat passenger bus will convey customers at an average speed of 60 kilometers per hour.
The South Korean ministry plans to conduct a test-run 10 times a day until December of the eco-friendly technology developed under the Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV) project worth 26.6 billion won ($23.8 million).OLEV-type buses will be used as mass public transportation in South Korea from 2015. Lee noted that the OLEV-type vehicle has the edge over a plug-in type electric vehicle in terms of battery weight. It will still require cost reduction efforts before commercialization. An OLEV-type bus costs 100 million won ($89,700) more than a plug-in type bus.
