Buckinghamshire is one of the first places in the country to be holding a trail on wireless electric charging. As part of Buckinghamshire Council's commitment to tackling climate change and adopting modern transport solutions the On-Street Residential Induction Charger demonstrator (OSRIC) will make a hire car available to residents so they can test the latest wireless charging technology and gain experience of driving an electric vehicle. Rather than plugging in an electric car, the trail has an induction wireless charging pad set into the ground. The pad will only be activated when an electric car (installed with the specialised induction pad) parks over it.
As existing electric cards don't have wireless charging, an adapted Renault Zoe EV is available for hire (via hire car company HiyaCar), so residents can familiarise themselves with how to charge it using the wireless pad. The EV can also be charged using a standard cable if driven away from the wireless pad. The test charging pad, which is located in Marlow, is funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and is part of the government’s commitment to invest £1.3 billion on charging infrastructure for EVs across the country. Buckinghamshire Council is working with Char.gy, the charging point company, and with a team of local authorities, suppliers and researchers to run a set of trials in contrasting locations across Britain.
