E-MAIL
Seoul City plans to operate buses powered by electricity supplied from equipment planted in road surfaces from 2011. The "On Line Electric Vehicle (OLEV)" has been developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Seoul City signed in 2009 a memorandum of understanding with KAIST for the project.
Kaist Olev city bus
The electric vehicles were built in October of the same year and test-operated on a 2.2-kilometer Seoul Grand Park shuttle route from November onwards. The city continued test-driving in the areas around Sangam-dong, Seoul during this year and is still planning to introduce the bus to bus-only lanes in broader areas in 2011.
The OLEV gets its power supply from an electric facility laid underground, without rails or surface power lines, and it can share the road with other vehicles as well.
It is 30-90 percent cheaper to make and maintain than existing electric buses and does not emit any air polluting substances.
The city of Seoul has the ambitious plan to replace all cars, buses and taxis with combustion engine by electric or hybrid cars and install a sufficient network of charging stations by 2020.