A mobile catenary power supply system for automotive vehicles

Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Electric Power Engineering, Electric Traction Division, ul. Koszykowa 75, 00-662, Warsaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: tadeusz.maciolek@ee.pw.edu.pl

Abstract

Trolleybus type power supply using a two-pole overhead catenary system has been used for over one hundred years. However, energy demand in this type of road transport is the lowest. The main disadvantage of this type of transport is the lack of flexibility. Road electric vehicles equipped with batteries, which are now more and more often being put into service, allow for autonomous run on the roads without overhead contact wires. Therefore, it is possible to use them in a more flexible manner. The main problem is a limited range of autonomous run and long charge time of batteries. The paper presents a concept consisting in the application of an overhead catenary for supplying electric and hybrid vehicles (including automobiles) when a vehicle is in motion (mobile charging). Electric trucks are equipped with controlled current collectors allowing for connection with an overhead catenary during driving. Application of this solution to automobiles is rather impossible, which prevents them from being supplied directly from a catenary. The basis of the original concept presented in the paper is the creation of automobile convoys supplied via a truck equipped with current collectors. A description of the proposed system and an algorithm of its operation are presented in the paper. The discussed transport system has significant advantages in comparison to completely autonomous electric vehicles: increased range of driving with lower capacity of batteries on board and flexibility of use, longer life-time of batteries, lower energy consumption. The paper compares the proposed system with the currently used ones, which employ charging of automobiles during stops, but also underlines the advantages of the first solution.