A common question: Can gondolas be heated and/or air conditioned?
It’s a logical question. As gondolas find more usage in the urban environment, heating and air conditioning is going to become more and more standard.
Current urban applications haven’t required cooling and heating systems for the simple reason that most people aren’t in the vehicles long enough for it to be a necessity (as most urban cable transit lines are no more than a few kilometers in length).
This is going to change in the future and the industry has only recently caught up with the problem.
The problem is basic, but has major implications: Gondolas (typically) are not connected to any power source, so where then do they draw their power from?
The typical answer lies in a combination of batteries and solar panels. Problem was, solar panels used to be very expensive and batteries not so very long-lived. It’s hard to pitch yourself as an eco-friendly technology when you’re replacing (and throwing out) a fleet of batteries every year. Not only is it hard on the image, it’s hard on the pocket book as well.
As solar panels have dropped in cost while battery lifespan has increased (and continues to), so too has the cable industry’s ability to use on-board batteries to power all sorts of electronic vehicle systems; heating and cooling included.
The timing couldn’t be better. Given the industry’s recent push into the urban market, air conditioning and heating was bound to present a problem. Without longer battery lifespans (or an entirely different technological solution), the industry could have seen their efforts severely hampered.
This feature is still a rarity amongst cable systems (not withstanding new cable car systems that tend to include third rail electricity transmission), but is one that will see increased uptake in the future.
