World's Fastest Charging Electric Bus Takes 10 seconds to Charge

The world's fastest charging electric busses, that takes just 10 seconds to be fully charged, were put into operation for the first time in Ningbo on Tuesday.

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The bus recharges while stationary or while passengers get on or off, and each charge enables the bus to run for least five kilometers, according to Zhou Qinghe, president of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, a subsidiary of high-speed train maker CRRC.

In addition, the bus, which rolled off production line in April, consumes 30 to 50 percent less energy than other electric vehicles.

The capacitor can be charged one million times and has a 10-year life cycle. The bus has one-tenth the energy cost of a diesel bus with lifetime fuel savings of $200,000.

3 Former Executives to Be Prosecuted in Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
By JONATHAN SOBLEJULY 31, 2015

TOKYO — In the first criminal prosecutions of officials connected to the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster of 2011, the Japanese authorities said Friday that they would move forward with cases against three former executives of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the owner of the plant where reactors melted down after a tsunami.

The move was a victory for citizens’ groups that have been pursuing charges against dozens of officials at Tokyo Electric Power, known as Tepco, and the government, with no success until now. Prosecutors had twice rejected requests to indict the three former Tepco executives, but a review board overruled their decision on Friday and ordered that charges be brought.

“We had given up hope that there would be a criminal trial,” said Ruiko Muto, an opponent of nuclear power who leads the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Plaintiffs Group, an umbrella organization representing about 15,000 people, including residents displaced by the accident and their supporters. “We’ve finally gotten this far.”



Tsunehisa Katsumata, the chairman of Tepco at the time of the accident. Credit Franck Robichon/European Pressphoto Agency

Tens of thousands of people who lived near the Fukushima Daiichi power plant have been separated from their homes since the meltdowns at three of the facility’s reactors, which spread radiation across a wide area. Evacuation orders have been lifted in some parts of the affected zone, but many former residents are still reluctant to return because they fear for their health or because they no longer have jobs to support them there.

It is rare for prosecutors’ discretion over indictments to be challenged in Japan....