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31-07-2007
About
50 buses powered by Li-ion battery will be put
into service for the Beijing Olympics next year,
running a total distance of 10.4 kilometers
for athletes and officials, according to a Beijing
official.
The
buses will be used in three loop lines in the
Olympics village, the northern area of arena
and the press village, according to Zheng Jichun,
deputy director of Beijing Municipal Science
and Technology Commission.
On
request of the organizing committee of the Beijing
Olympics which was committed to a green Olympics,
vehicles using electric power are needed during
the games.
All
the 50 buses are solely powered by a kind of
Li-ion battery which is different from various
of existing hybrid electric vehicles, according
to Sun Fengchun, an electric car expert with
Beijing Institute of Technology.
The
institute launched the designing and research
work of the electric bus in 2000 and so far
a manufactory of Beijing Public Transports has
assembled seven model buses which have passed
tests.
The
designer has determined the key parts of the
bus and the manufacturer has been ready for
mass production, according to Sun.
The
organizing committee has also permitted the
running routes and bus models, following electric
vehicle's debut in 1972 Munich Olympics when
BMW provided two electric buses as the leading
cars in athlete parade.
The
50 electric buses in Beijing Olympics would
be the largest number of its kind in the games,
Sun said.
The
Beijing Organizing Committee has allocated an
area of 5,000 square meters of recharge station
for the buses and a parking area in southwest
Beijing, Sun added.
The
Li-ion power battery is used in vehicles with
a higher energy density, comparatively smaller
cubage and longer span for repetitive use. Moreover,
its high efficiency and zero emission have made
itself a major subject of battery research and
development at home and abroad.
However,
frequent accidents caused by Li-ion battery
occurred in recent year, especially the blast
of Li-ion battery in a laptop computer last
year aroused public attention on the battery's
safety.
Qi
Lu, professor with Peking University, said the
material of the Li-ion battery used in the Olympic
buses is different and fully reliable for its
safety.
Since
2001, two electric buses have been used in 121
route of Beijing bus for test operation and
China's home made electric buses were also operating
in World University Games in 2001 to take athletes,
coaches and audiences.
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