Introducing clean energy-based solutions in aviation is not just about electrifying aircraft. There’s an entire support system of ground vehicles at each airport, which could benefit the environment a great deal if it switched to greener alternatives. The Kansas City International Airport (KCI) is showing the world how it’s done, with the installation of a trailblazing wireless charging system.
6 photosHotel shuttles, maintenance vehicles, buses and trucks at airports – these are some of the vehicles that usually go unnoticed by most of us, which doesn’t mean that they’re not contributing to the high levels of CO2, just like other means of transportations. KCI took a decisive step back in 2017, when it became the first airport operator in the U.S. to start using electric buses, with more added in 2020. Now building a modern new terminal, KCI didn’t want to have any heavy plug-in charging infrastructure to ruin the design. Inductive charging was seen as the best solution for this, so the airport operator selected Momentum Dynamics. Based in Pennsylvania, this company won the 2019 Emerging Technology Award from Mechanical Engineering Magazine, and it specializes in high-power inductive charging for various types of electric vehicles. In addition to not being obtrusive in terms of space and design, this wireless system is also great because it keeps the buses moving. As they wait for passengers, the electric buses are parked on the charging pads, automatically being charged while the passengers load and unload. This means that there’s no need for the buses to be sent to the garage during the day, for charging. Plus, the automatic system doesn’t require the driver to do much else, freeing up time for other tasks. Because the buses practically remain full-charged throughout the day, on their seven-mile loop, not even night-time charging is required –but they do have the option of doing so at the bus operations facility. Two 300 kW inductive chargers will be installed at the shuttle bus stop outside the baggage claim area, at the new terminal, which is set to open by 2023.
At first, four of the airport’s BYD K7 30-foot e-shuttles will be retrofitted with the Momentum Dynamics wireless system for automatic charging. The operator intends to eventually use this system for its entire parking fleet of 28 vehicles.
Keyword: Kansas City Airport Becomes the First to Introduce Wireless EV Charging for Its Shuttles