The is a two-car

battery electric multiple unit A battery electric multiple unit (BEMU), battery electric railcar or accumulator railcar is an electrically driven multiple unit or railcar whose energy is derived from rechargeable batteries driving the traction motors. Prime advantages of these ...

(BEMU) train type operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

(JR East) on the

Oga Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Oiwake Station in Akita, Akita Prefecture to Oga Station in Oga, Akita Prefecture. It is nicknamed the . Stations Rolling stock * KiHa 40 s ...

Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its geographic area is 1 ...

in northern Japan since 4 March 2017.

Overview

The train is derived from the experimental 817 series BEMU train developed by

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Stra ...

, and will incorporate modifications to cope with the colder climate of Akita Prefecture. The two-car EV-E801 series train operates as an electric multiple unit (EMU) under the 20 kV AC overhead wire of the Ou Main Line between and , a distance of , and on battery power over the non-electrified

tracks between Oiwake and , a distance of , replacing existing

KiHa 40 The is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type introduced by Japanese National Railways (JNR) in 1977 and operated by all Japan Railways Group companies on suburban and rural services in Japan. Since 2017, the train type has seen use by other ...

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are als ...

(DMU) trains. It can also be recharged via its

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

at a 20 kV AC recharging facility specially built at Oga Station. The EV-E800 car is equipped with lithium-ion storage batteries with a total capacity of 360 kWh (at 1,598 V), and operates at a maximum speed of under overhead wires and at on battery power over non-electrified tracks.

Formation

The two-car train is formed as shown below, with one driving motor ("Mc") and one driving trailer ("Tc") car. The Mc car is fitted with one single-arm pantograph. File:JR East EV-E801 exhibition at Akita Station 20170224-d.jpg, Car EV-E801-1 in February 2017 File:Sideview of EV-E801.jpg, Car EV-E801-1 (left) and EV-E800-1 (right) in February 2017 File:JR East EV-E801 exhibition at Akita Station 20170224-a.jpg, Car EV-E800-1 in February 2017

Interior

Internally, the train uses

LED lighting An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than m ...

throughout. Seating accommodation consists of longitudinal bench seating. Both cars have a toilet. File:Interior of EV-E801-1 a.jpg, The interior of car EV-E801-1 in February 2017, looking toward the driving end File:Interior of EV-E801-1 b.jpg, The interior of car EV-E801-1 in February 2017 File:Interior of EV-E800-1.jpg, The interior of car EV-E800-1 in February 2017 File:EV-E800-1 wheelchair space.jpg, The wheelchair and pushchair space in car EV-E800-1 in February 2017 File:EV-E800-1 sanitation.jpg, The toilet in car EV-E800-1 in February 2017 File:EV-E801-1 driving cab.jpg, The driving cab of car EV-E801-1 in February 2017

History

Initial details of the new train were formally announced by JR East on 20 November 2015. The train will undergo evaluation and proving trials on the Oga Line ahead of the scheduled introduction on revenue-earning services in March 2017. The two-car trainset was delivered from the

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

factory in

Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi is a city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. ...

to Akita Depot in December 2016. On November 2nd, 2020, two new sets G2 and G3 were delivered from the

factory in

and arrived at Akita depot two days later, on November 4th. The sets were transported coupled to each other and hauled by a locomotive as a standard freight train. On November 16th, 2020, three new sets G4, G5, and G6 were delivered from the

factory in

and arrived at Akita depot two days later, on November 18th. These sets were also transported as a freight train.

References

External links

JR East news release published 20 November 2015
{{JR East EMU Electric multiple units of Japan East Japan Railway Company Train-related introductions in 2017 Hitachi multiple units 20 kV AC multiple units Battery electric multiple units

Overview

Formation

Interior

History

See also

References

External links