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.
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The buses will be used in three loop lines in the Olympic
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.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2007)
