Intis Project in Franconia: Autonomous Shuttle Bus Charges Inductively

Last week, as part of the "Milas" project, two stationary wireless charging stations with an 11 kW charging capacity were installed at the two bus terminals of a roughly three-kilometer-long test route in Bad Staffelstein, Upper Franconia, one at the Obermain Therme and one at Ringstraße. The wireless charging pads are installed level with the street and barrier-free and can be mechanically loaded by 40-ton trucks.

Transmission efficiency of more than 94 percent

Thanks to the wireless charging stations, the autonomous shuttle buses from Navya used in Bad Staffelstein can be inductively charged at the terminals – with a transmission efficiency of more than 94 percent. LiDAR and GPS ensure the precise positioning of the vehicles before the charging process.

Chargers integrated into the street

For the first time, charging specialist Intis has integrated most components of its wireless chargers into the street below the charging pad. This makes massive infrastructure components such as large charging cabinets unnecessary. The power supply for several charging pads through just one small cabinet is already possible and helps to ensure that the cityscape is not disturbed.

The Milas Project

Milas is a project funded by the Federal Government with project partners Bergische Universität Wuppertal (BUW), the city of Bad Staffelstein, Valeo, Technische Universität München (TUM), and IBC Solar. The goal is to investigate and evaluate the use of stationary and dynamic wireless charging for autonomous shuttle bus systems. Intis provides all the equipment for wireless charging.