North Korea lacks oil, power supply is not stable enough, and there is little development of civilian cars; instead, they have focused on the development of military vehicles, industrial vehicles, trolleybuses, trams, etc. At least 3 new models of trolleybuses have been developed.
The Qianlima-091 (Korean: -091) is a Highland-terrace 3-axle articulated trolleybus developed by the Pyongyang Trolleybus Factory in Pyongyang, North Korea, which began development in 2009 and was produced for the Pyongyang Trolleybus System from 2010 to 2018; the prototype was shipped out of the factory in 2009 and entered mass production in 2010. The term "Maxima" derives from mythical animals, where it stands for the Maxima movement in North Korea. The 09 in the model number 091 indicates that the year of development is 2009, and the 1 after it indicates model 1. Since the 1960s, most trolleybuses in Pyongyang have been named after Maxima.
It is currently the most common vehicle in Pyongyang's trolleybus network and the largest number of trolleybuses in North Korea, with an estimated 200 units already in production, of which more than 177 have been put into service, replacing trolleybuses such as the Maxima-90, Maxima-862, Maxima-903 and Maxima-971. Vehicle number 103-605 with an empty number in the middle.
Maxima-90
The Maxima-091 differs from other North Korean trolleybuses in that passengers get on the train through the back door and get off at the other gate. The front half of the body has a side door and a double door, and the electric motor is also in the front body; the rear body has only one double door. It has increased the capacity of North Korea's trolleybuses before the 1990s, 2.5 times more than non-articulated trolleybuses, and 1.4 times more than articulated trolleybuses. In order to carry more people, most of the seats in the carriage are single seats, only the double seats above the wheel arch, a total of 40 seats, the maximum capacity of 170 people. Unlike trolleybuses built before 1986, its cab is not separated from the cabin.
Because North Korea's electricity supply is insufficient, these vehicles are not equipped with air conditioning in order to save electricity. Like older buses on the mainland, these vehicles are fitted with large sliding windows and fans inside the carriages. Each car is assembled by hand, welding the frames together; this means that different cars can have subtle differences, and all 17 kinds of paint are also applied by hand. Due to the handmade, the vehicle may not travel very smoothly. The articulated joint is a design of the Ikarus 280 articulated bus in Hungary, which, due to its primitive design, will squeak during driving and occasionally get stuck at the joint.
Ikarus 280
The electric motor is a 130 kW switched reluctance motor with a speed of 1800 rpm and a maximum travel speed of 86 km/h. The drive shafts are manufactured by Sinotruk Corporation. The car is reportedly equipped with a kneeling suspension. The production version of the car used a varistile control system, and some of the cars were equipped with AC motors; one of the cars also had an electronic control system, and it was also the only Maxima-091 with a two-way door for the front door.
The Maxima-091 has a number of variants, one of which has a straighter front body, appears to have been developed at the same time as the first version, and it seems that the two are not in a mutually substitutionary relationship.
performance:
Length: 16.83 m
Width: 2.5 meters
Height: 3.42 m
Maximum speed: 86 km / h
Kerb weight: 16 tons
Output power: 130 kW
Power system: 550-600V DC
Image from the web