Milton Keynes will be the site for testing new electric buses and under-road battery charging this year. Milton Keynes route No7 diesel engined buses will be replaced by Arriva run electric buses that will have their batteries charged along the route whilst parked for scheduled driver breaks.
The battery charging is contactless and via a coil buried in the road at the parking spaces (presumably at bus stops). It isn't exactly a new idea, similar systems are used in China, South Korea, Europe and other places, I think it's the first time the idea has been trialed in the UK. The No7 route has been chosen because it is very busy and will be used to see if the system can be rolled out world wide.
South Korea have taken it a step further and have developed a system that allows charging along short stretches of road so that the buses don't have to stop to charge.
http://www.arup.com/News/2012_09_September/25_Sep_MASP_led_project_to_introduce_wireless_busses_to_Milton_Keyens_finalised.aspx
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