London:  Korean scientists have unveiled what they claim is the “future of urban transport” — Online Electric Vehicle.
A team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has invented the Online Electric Vehicle, or Olev, which uses a technology that not only eliminates pollution but also alleviates the problems associated with hybrid vehicles such as heavy batteries, lengthy charging and limited range.

“Of all the world’s electric vehicles, this is the most economical system. I dare say this is one of the most significant technical gains of the 21st century,” institute’s President Suh Nam-pyo was quoted by the Times as saying.
The first public demonstration of the Online Electric Vehicle or Olev was, however, as much about the road on which it travelled as the prototype bus itself.
Electric power strips have been buried 30 cm under the surface and connected to the national grid. They provide electromagnetic power to the Olev, wirelessly, charging an onboard battery and powering the bus’s electric motor.
The power strips need to be embedded in only 20 per cent of the length of a road to keep the vehicle running, say the scientists who foresee buses as the first beneficiaries of the technology, with the creation of electric bus lanes.  And, if the technology is later applied to cars, the power from two nuclear plants, or their equivalent, would be enough to run every vehicle in South Korea indefinitely, the institute says.     —PTI