Gothenburg is testing wireless charging for e-taxis

The project is part of the Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative

Earlier this month, it was announced that the testing had begun on the creation of a small fleet of electric taxis service in central Gothenburg. The innovative part of the project has to do with the recharging of the vehicles, which will be done wirelessly simply by parking them in specially designed spots.

Drivers working for taxi operator Cabonline will provide normal taxi services using fully electric Volvo XC40s. The charging technology has been developed by US company Momentum Dynamics and installed on behalf of municipally-owned energy company Göteborg Energi.

Today, we turn a fleet of pure electric XC40s into taxis to help us test #wirelesscharging, as we’re evaluating the potential of the technology. It all happens within the initiative Gothenburg Green City Zone, which lets us try exciting new technologies in a real environment. pic.twitter.com/QCmSUNzbnE

— Volvo Cars (@volvocars) March 3, 2022

The aim is to test and further develop this exciting new charging technology and to gain experience that allows all concerned parties to contribute to the large-scale introduction of zero-emission taxis to urban environments.

Scalable and climate-neutral urban transport

The electric taxi charging testing project, which is expected to run for 3 years, is only part of the ongoing slew of initiatives happening in an area of the Swedish city now known as Gothenburg Green City Zone.

In the Gothenburg Green City Zone, new technologies are tested to develop and scale-up system solutions aimed at ensuring that all transport in selected parts of Gothenburg will be 100 % emission-free by 2030. The Zone is an initiative by the City of Gothenburg, implemented through Business Region Göteborg, Volvo Cars and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.

Initially consisting of Lindholmen, the Event District in central Gothenburg and Forsåker in Mölndal, the Gothenburg Green City Zone will create opportunities for businesses, societal stakeholders and researchers to test, develop and scale up their ideas and solutions. This will be a zone for testing rather than prohibition, where interest in new solutions is welcomed and encouraged.

This Zone also makes Gothenburg the first region in the world to develop zero-emission, scalable transport solutions at system level.

“Gothenburg Green City Zone has been established for precisely this type of project, real-world practical testing through which we can all learn to accelerate the pace of innovation. Electric taxis can make an enormous difference, both for the climate and to reduce noise in cities,” explained Jonas Eriksson, operations manager for Gothenburg Green City Zone at Business Region Göteborg, when speaking about the e-taxi recharging project.

The City of Gothenburg has adopted the goals of a fossil-free municipal vehicle fleet by 2023 and reducing CO2 emissions by 90 % throughout the city’s transport system by 2030. Electrification is part of the solution. Business Region Gothenburg is leading the transition to an electrified transport system. The large-scale penetration of electric vehicles demands a new kind of collaboration between stakeholders.

For example, since the Municipality is a large customer and user of taxi services, they have the leverage to demand zero-emission transport.