Wireless Taxis – Driving Lessons Basingstoke

A fleet of wirelessly charging taxis is soon set to skirt across Nottingham’s roads in a government backed trial by Sprint Power. No, it’s not powered by magic or a child’s dreams, it’s much more boring: they work via pads attached to the ground that charge the vehicle while it’s on the move.

Ten of these taxis are due to be driving in early Autumn and will be used to capture certain data such as travel distances and battery performance, with the drivers giving qualitative assessments of their experience using this new technology. The information gained from this trial – which is called The WiCET (Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis) Trial – will hopefully illustrate the practicalities and commercial viability of this kind of sustainable system within large cities.

Richie Frost, who happens to be the founder and CEO of Sprint Power, stated that he is ‘delighted to be part of this pioneering project and are on track to deliver these custom-built products in time for the taxis hitting the streets in Nottingham.’ He went on to establish a zealous belief in his company’s technical and engineering capabilities.

I wonder how soon we are likely to see this kind of technology cropping up further afield such as places in Berkshire, like Basingstoke and Newbury. Also, with this move towards electric power it is my prediction that more driving lessons will take place in a higher number of EVs with automatic transmissions, as opposed to the popularity of learning with a gearstick.