Why So Few Battery-electric Vehicles?
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TN the census of mechanically propelled road
vehicles issued by the Minister of Transport for the period ended September, 1926, a surprisingly small number of battery-electric vehicles is shown to be in service. The actual figure is 603, and of these 156 do not exceed 25 cwt. in unladen weight and 150 He between the limits of 3-ton and 4-ton.
It must be remembered that the total number of vehicles licensed is over 360,000, so that only one in something like 600 vehicles is of the batteryelectric type; yet we should have thought that the many advantages presented by the battery-electric vehicle would have made it far more popular than this. It is clean, odourless, remarkably easy to control, has rapid acceleration and, where the• contour of the country is not too uneven, can run a fair distance on a single charg ,e—certainly sufficiently to permit of delivery rounds of ample length where there are many halts per mile, as in such eases the .actual distance• travelled by the vehicle is quite moderate. In addition it is really the closest approach in its characteristics to the horse, except that it does not consume power while standing.
For certain classes of work, such as the delivery of bread and, perhaps, milk, it is an almost ideal means of transport.
We think that much of the trouble so far experienced by the salesmen of various models has been on the score of price, but small output necessarily means a comparatively high cost per vehicle, thus making it difficult to compete with the lowpriced petrol vehicle.
There is another factor which has tended to deter potential users. This is the need in many instances for the installation of a charging plant. Such plant, however, need not be costly nor difficult to operate ; in fact, many are practically automatic in their action. Some users, we know, have had trouble with vehicles charged at local stations. In some eases the charge has not been finished; in others the charging rate has been so high as to injure the batteries. Consequently, instead of encouraging the employment of a vehicle which would be to their manifest advantage, some of the electric-supply companies do not appear to have been at all enthusiastic about the matter, and are, therefore, losing what might be a lucrative source of income.
We know that many bakers are themselves confident of the value of the electric vehicle ; in fact, there is one baking company in a large way of business preparing to market such vehicles on a large scale if the results with the half-dozen or so which it has recently put into sepvice show this course to be justified. We understand that, so far, the vehicles on trial have given every satisfaction and have already resulted in obtaining a much greater economy in bread transport.