Nottingham trials UK’s first wireless electric taxis on its ambitious journey to carbon neutrality

The groundbreaking scheme has seen nine electric hackney cabs retrofitted with the latest, super-efficient wireless charging technology to power local journeys.

The public can now use the trailblazing taxis at a specially upgraded rank outside Nottingham Station.

Nineteen local taxi drivers have so far volunteered to test a free cab to help Nottingham City Council and its project partners closely monitor the trial and share learnings with the Government to help shape future regulations and delivery of wireless charging projects.

This project will help partners discover the advantages and issues of this technology and iron out any problems.

Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis (WiCET) is a £3.4 million project funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK to assess the commercial and technical viability of deploying wireless charging for electric hackney cabs.

The council secured £930,000 from the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles through Innovate UK for the WiCET project.

This is a UK first involving both London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) and Nissan Dynamo electric taxis, placing Nottingham at the forefront of green technology innovation.

It is expected that the trial of the wireless charging technology will demonstrate a range of benefits, including easy and convenient charging – drivers will be able to start a charge while waiting for passengers by driving over the pad without needing to leave their vehicle – reducing street clutter as no charging cables are required as the wireless charging equipment is built into the road surface and encouraging the adoption of more electric taxis in the city, which will lead to a reduction in emissions and help the city to achieve its 2028 carbon neutral target.

The project is led by Cenex, with partners Coventry University, Hangar-19, Nottingham City Council, Shell Research Limited, Sprint Power and Transport for London, with Lumen Freedom supplying the hardware.

Coun Audra Wynter (Lab), portfolio holder for highways, transport and parks at the council, said: “I’m delighted to see Nottingham’s UK-leading wireless taxis hit the streets.

"This amazing new technology will make it easy and convenient for taxi drivers to charge their vehicles on-street between passengers and make a big difference in local air quality.

“This is another example of Nottingham leading the way in transport innovation, as we lead the country to become carbon neutral by 2028.”

Richard Sander, WiCET project manager andtechnical specialist at Cenex, added: “Wireless charging has the potential for effective deployment across a wide range of applications from public transport to emergency vehicles and mobility solutions, and the results from our research will go on to inform future deployments.

“We are extremely proud to be starting the first physical trial of wireless charging of taxis in the UK here in Nottingham.

This is a big step in understanding and demonstrating the potential of wireless charging as a core technology in the electric vehicle transition.

"Everyone involved in the project has worked hard behind the scenes to get us to this point, and I’m excited to see the impacts this will have for drivers, passengers and the environment.”