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Re: Nearly wireless streetcars. It's being done.
Author: Max Wyss
Date: 10-27-2015 - 11:13
Flywheel-driven buses did actually exist in the early 1950 (see this entry in the German Wikipedia).
In short, there were charging stations at the stops. The system did work, but was not really successful, as the only 19 Gyrobus vehicles which were built shows.
There were experiments with flywheels in substations for streetcar and trolleybus lines, which were kind of promising. The advantage of a stationary flywheel is that it can run at much higher speeds, and therefore store more energy. Together with regenerative braking, such a configuration allows to reduce the power rating of a substation, as the energy from the flywheel can provide the necessary boost when vehicles are accelerating.
In short, there were charging stations at the stops. The system did work, but was not really successful, as the only 19 Gyrobus vehicles which were built shows.
There were experiments with flywheels in substations for streetcar and trolleybus lines, which were kind of promising. The advantage of a stationary flywheel is that it can run at much higher speeds, and therefore store more energy. Together with regenerative braking, such a configuration allows to reduce the power rating of a substation, as the energy from the flywheel can provide the necessary boost when vehicles are accelerating.
