Seattle is ordering a fleet of double-decker battery buses with wireless charging

Conventional charging technology for battery-electric vehicles depends on wires, but Seattle is planning to dive into inductive wireless charging capabilities for its newest bus public transit fleet.

It was announced last week that Sound Transit, one of the public transit authorities in Seattle, will extensively use inductive wireless charging technology for its new Stride Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service.

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A total of 48 new additional battery-electric buses will be equipped with inductive wireless charging, including 15 60-ft-long articulated buses and 33 double-decker buses from Alexander Dennis.

British bus manufacturing firm Alexander Dennis, best known for its double-decker buses, is owned by Canadian bus manufacturer firm New Flyer Industries.

The inductive wireless charging equipment will be provided by Pennsylvania-based InductEV, which enables on-route charging for the new BRT routes. The inductive wireless charging equipment will be embedded into the road pavement at bus stops.

With this order, Seattle will be the first location in North America to deploy double-decker electric buses with inductive wireless charging. But Sound Transit will be the seventh public transit authority in Washington State to use InductEV’s patented wireless charging equipment. Currently, about 100 battery-electric buses across the state are using or scheduled to use the company’s charging technology.

Example of inductive wireless charging equipment for buses. (InductEV)

According to the company, its inductive wireless charging technology offers the benefits of reducing the land area at bus depot facilities that would otherwise be required for fixed wired charging equipment while providing high-powered wireless charging interoperability between double-decker and 60-ft-long articulated buses.

“The inclusion of Alexander Dennis marks an exciting new chapter for InductEV,” said Brandon Anulewicz, Chief Revenue Officer for InductEV, in a statement.

“Together, we’ll grow the company’s existing footprint and, by so doing, accelerate the benefits of wireless inductive charging technology in the commercial and municipal transport sectors.”

The first three routes under Stride BRT will replace existing regional express bus routes and connect Link light rail transit (LRT) to communities north, east, and south of Lake Washington. The new frequent, faster services will run on dedicated bus lanes and benefit from transit priority improvements. All three BRT routes will launch in 2028/2029.

In late April 2024, Sound Transit will open its second Link LRT line, the 2 Line or the East Link, which is 23 km long (14 miles) with 10 stations from Seattle’s International District to Judkins Park — across the I-90 bridge through downtown Bellevue — to Redmond Technology Station. The first segment of 2 Line opening this spring will be between South Bellevue and Redmond Technology Station, and the remaining segments will open in 2025.

You might also like:
• TransLink's first three Bus Rapid Transit routes could cost over $1 billion
• $27 million upgrade for TransLink's trolley bus overhead wire network
• Excess electricity from SkyTrain and trolley bus could be used to charge electric vehicles
• TransLink to build new Vancouver bus depot for 300 electric-battery buses (RENDERINGS)