Battery-electrics Could Do Long-distance Haulage
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
By A. W. Haigh, A.M.I.Mech.E.
WITH the further restriction in the rationing of petrol, the problem of fuel, for both commercialvehicle operators and private motorists, is becoming increasingly acute. The extremely slow progress of alternativefuel investigations, and the lack of enthusiasm for the one source of fuel supply which has been developed with fair success—the gas producer—leave
• 'open only one field where petrol can be saved almost immediately, namely, that of the battery-electric.
In local transport concerns, where delivery distances are within a 15-mile radius, the operating economy of the type is well appreciated, but, unfortunately, long-distance transport has not had the opportunity of availing itself of this economy because of the restriction on distance per battery charge. The need for road transport is sufficiently vital, 'however, for drastic steps to he taken to ensure continued and expanded employment of the battery, electric.
A Proved Source of Power , Supplies of the orthodox fuels, petrol and oil, are by no means certain ; town gas and producer gas have proved to be unpopular; methane as a fuel is still in its infancy, but electricity has been tried and proved efficient.
Electric vehicles, besides the disadvantage of low mileage per charge, have an approximate top speed of only 30 m.p.h., but these drawba.cks can be overcome. Their speed can be increased at the expense of the mileage per charge,, but the time saved by raising the maximum to, say, 40 m.p.h., would not prove so great as might be expected. On an average run of 100 miles, an estimate of 33 miles, over which the vehicle could travel at maximum speed, is generous. Accordingly, the time saved in 100 miles is the diflerence between the times taken to 'travel 33 miles at 30 m.p.h. and 40 m.p.h., respectively, namely, 161 minutes, which is negligible when the amount of petrol saved is considered.
The aim, therefore, must be to
increase delivery distance. Experiments have been, and are still being, conducted to push up mileage per charge, but they are meeting with little success. 'So it is essential that some other means for overcoming the problem of range be adopted.
In peace-time, this country was effectively covered. by petrol stations and garages. It was almost impossible to find oneself stranded on the road without access to some form of assistance from a garage well within walking distance. Now, most of these establishments are closed or have been converted to small engineering shops. Could not some of them be utilized to
further the cause of electric transport, by converting them to charging stations by the installation of the necessary equipment?
They would not all be needed, of course. Main towns could be used as operational centres and only garages situated at economical distances from the centred would he employed. For instance, if a garage in the centre of a city were chosen, circles would be drawn on a map, around it, with radii of 25, 30, 55, 60, 85, 90 miles, and so on, in multiples of 30 miles, with a fivemile tolerance on the lower side, to form concentric bands. Any garage on the main roads falling Within these bands would come into the scheme and the remainder would be disregarded.
Confusion 'might arise where operational centres were odd distances apart, say 40 miles, in which case charging stations would be approximately halfway between them.
Supplies of interchangeable, fully charged batteries could be kept on hand, ready to replace those which had provided locomotion for their 30 miles.
Current for the charging plants could he supplied by the local power station without its feeling any undue strain on cap'acity. The peak period of electricity consumption is between dusk and midnight, when current is required
for domestic lighting, etc. Battery charging would be arranged so that power output for normal requirements during this period would not be impaired, nor generators overloaded. This would actually result in more efficient operation of the stations.
Standardization of Batteries Batteries for long-distance work would, for interchangeability, have to be of standardized dimensions. Each cell would be of a given size so that any number could be supplied on demand to meet the requirements of different-capacity vehicles.
The 'question of easy charging would also arise, but could be overcome by the simple process Of mounting the batteries in separate frames or cradles which could be rolled off the vehicles on wheels and a complete new frame substituted. Government policy, up to now, has been such that large supplies of • material are available only for direct war work, and, until the absolute importance of road transport is fully aureciated, steel and other necessities for the construction of electric vehicles must be used for other purposes. In view of this, alternative means for providing electrics must be found.
There are, in this country, thousands of derelict petrol chassis which have been dumped for scrap. There are also thousands of vehicles which are lying idle in garages through lack of fuel. It would not be an impossible task to collect these vehicles together, to sort out the usable components and to construct a huge fleet of electrically propelled aassis. Some would be almost perfect and ready for conversion, whilst the discarded units of the others would provide sufficient scrap metal, excluding copper, to furnish much of the equipment.
Use Makeshift Conversions True, the resulting vehicles wouldnot be as efficient as those specially designed for the job, but they would be good enough until the importance of such vehicles is put on the same level as that of tanks and guns (for where would tanks and guns be without trans-. port?) makeshift conversions will have to suffice.
One concession would be required from the authorities—material for battery and motor construction—but is this concession too much to ask in view of the eriormous saving of petrol? Charging plants would be needed, but again would not the allowance of material for the purpose be worth while?
The. project would be neither easy nor cheap, but authorities are spending huge sums of money on the war already, and surely a subsidy, which would give the transport industry a Ger.tainty of life, would be fully justified.
To satisfy the economist, however, post-war possibilitiesmust be considered. Electric traction is accepted as a definite future form of transport; petrol, unlike the poor, will not always he with us. It is extremely unlikely that a battery giving, say, 100 miles per charge, will be developed in the near future, so. the provision of batterycharging stations now, besides being of primary importance under present war conditions, would be an .undeniable aSset to post-war transport:
Economy at the moment should have' at best a secondary place in the argument against the adoption of long-range electrics. The war must be won and efficient transport is ha essential step to victory no matter what the cost.