The design of a contact-less energy transfer system for a people mover system

Abstract

This paper describes a contactless power transfer system to provide intervention free battery charging to a specially designed low weight electric vehicle for use in an historic New Zealand national park. The noncontact feature of the ICPT (inductively coupled power transfer) system is significant in that the charging is transparent to the driver. When the driver stops at the loading platform, the charging unit automatically senses the vehicle and begins charging if required. Four charging bays (buried under the ground) are provided allowing opportunity charging throughout the day. This minimises the necessary on-board batteries, and therefore the vehicle weight, while still allowing the vehicles to be operated continuously.