The Orwell Electric.
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The electric vehicle has not, un. til lately, been viewed with very great favour in this country. Its recent development from a manu facturing point of view has been practically nil. In America and on the Continent, on the other hand, not inconsiderable use has been made of this type of motor vehicle, and as a result, those chassis in use in this country are principally either of American or Continental origin, the latter, as a rule, bejng of German manufacture.
In discussing the merits of the electric, it must be borne in mind that its field of successful operation is strictly limited. At the commencement of the present period of active interest in the type, the most extravagant clairrni were made in respect of its capabilities. It was stated that it would compete against all other forms of traction, mechanical or animal, both on grounds of economy as
well as on those of simplicity and cleanliness, but, later on, better counsels prevailed, and there are few but will agree with the present claims that for short heavy hauls, in districts which are fairly flat, battery vehicles will make a very good show indeed. Particularly, also, is it effective where the work is of a kind necessitating frequent stops, such as parcel delivery over comparatively small areas.
The maker of the Orwell chassis, a British product, is Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies, Ltd., of Orwell Works, Ipswich. This company's experience of mechanically-propelled road vehicles extends bacl to nearly 60 years ago, having made and sold a steam vehicle in 1857.
The chassis itself is remarkably simple in design and construction, and, as one of our illustrations shows, practically the whole of the driving mechanism is carried by the front wheels. A plate attached to the stub axle carries the motor, and the drive is by means of helical gearing to internal gears attached to the front road wheels.
The accumulators, which are 40 in number, are carried in two boxes, conveniently arranged beneath the • main frame, one box at each side, and these are made very accessible by an ingenious arrangement which permits of their being pulled out from beneath the frame on rollers, but, at the same time, when they are in the normal position, the rollers are lifted out of the way of ;the boxes, which then rest firmly and solidly on angle irons. This arrangement is worthy of note, inasmuch as one of the troubles with which • battery-vehicle users have had to contend in times past has been that resulting from matten
tion to the batteries. For this there has frequently been some excuse, as, in order to examine them, the man had frequently either to get under the chassis or requisition the service of a crane before he could withdraw them for examination.
The control is very simply arranged and has been designed so as to differ as little as may be from that of a petrol chassis. A pedal in the position occupied on a petrol vehicle by the clutch pedal, cuts off the batteries when depressed ; when released, it puts, the motors in circuit again, gradually, in three steps. This pedal may be operated without any manipfilation of the motor control lever being necessary. The brakes, which are two in number and operate on one drum in the rear wheel, are operated in the manner customary on petrol motors, by pedal and side lever. The control of the motor is effected by a lever above the steering column placed as the throttle lever is on an internal-combustion engined machine. It has five running positions for the forward direction, one for reversing, and one for electrically braking. A catch automatically prevents the lever being inadvertently placed in reverse, and this same catch deters the driver from moving into a forward position when he should be in a reverse. Steering gear is of the normal worm and segment type. The central pivots on which the front wheels are carried render the operation of the gear very free indeed, Mossay and Co., Ltd., Queen Anne's Chambers,Tothill Street, Westminster, is the selling agent for the Orwell electric.