ELECTRIC VEHIC1 PUBLIC SERVICE.
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IN NO other sphere of activity has the use of the electric vehicle proved so. advantageous as in public service, and especially in certain branches of the work, such as the collection of house refuse and street watering, the two functions in many cases being performed by the same chassis fitted with alternative bodies suitable for the respective tasks.
In general, the work in a municipality entails a large number of stops combined with relatively small mileage—ideal conditions for such a vehicle as the electric, the ease of control and lack of shock of which at stopping and starting, with the complete cessation of power consumption when at rest, render it the most suitable type which can he employed.
In the collection of house refuse, it is most essential that the work should be performed regularly, thus the vehicles-must be kept on the road for the maximum amount of time possible. The electric dust vast fulfils this condition, as in many instances it is nob off the road for more than two or three working days per .annum, as the overhauling of the chassis is practically negligible, and the provision of a spare accumulator, or even the overhauling of the accumulator itself, is not a matter which takes up any considerable amount of time.
The progress made during the last few years in the matter of refuse collection and cleansing has been really remarkable. For instance, 40 or 60 years ago the principal streets of Leicester were cleaned by means of a small donkey cart. with an old man in charge as the sweeper ; compare this with present-day methods. Horses are still being used to a certain extent, but in most eases even the few left will soon be supplanted by poweroperated machines. Much of the success of the electric vehicle depends upon . its .speed, and unless this increased speed can be taken advantage of, the capital charges become excessive for the work performed. It is, therefore, essential for municipal authorities who. are considering the adoption. of this form of vehicle to organize their methods with this object in view, and not to consider that the mere purchase of electric vehicles is bound to effect a saving. Results have shown that one of the indirect savings effected by the use -of more speedy vehicles is due to the better manner in which they and the men in charge of them can be supervised. They can work to a timetable in a way which was quite impossible with the horse vehicle, and that in itself promotes efficiency.
Electric vehicles are now being employed by over 100 different municipalities, the total number in use by these authorities being over 500, embodying the following approximate numbers of each make :—Edison 234, Orwell 120, G.V. 60, Garrett 33, Eleetromobilo 27, Newton 10, Cedes 17. It. is probable that certain of these numbers have been increased since these statistics were received.
With a view to obtaining information on the employment B18
of electric vehielcs, we have interviewed a number of public authorities. At East Ham we were .received by Mr. J. G. Banks, the chief sanitary inspector. East Ham has not employed .electrics for very long, but already the results have proved most beneficial, in spite of the fact that the charges for current are somewhat high, being 21d. per unit.. The County Borough of East Ham is of somewhat curious shape, being long and narrow, with one end practically cut off by docks, so that some of the dust-collecting vans have to travel outside the borough inorder to reach certain parts of it. The length is approximately seven miles. This means journeying 34 miles from each end to the destructor. With horse vehicles only two loads could be dealt with per day, whereas the electries now do four and often live ; also whilstthe horse vans carried an average of 35 cwt. the average load carried by the electric vehicles is 24 tons, so that the number of journeys is doubled and the tonnage considerably more than doubled.
At present the financial benefit is not considerable, owing to the capital cost which is being charged, but later, when this cost has been wiped off, the benefit will be more apparent. The inclusive cost of collection is 12s. per ton, as the vehicles move 20,000 tons at a cost of 212,442, which includes 23,666, part cost of vehicles ; 2996 electricity; 268 tyres; 2283 repairs and maintenance ; 2194 insurance, licence and small sundries, whilst 282 was expended on repairs and alterations to the garage. The borough has some 27,000 houses, and the cost of collection works out at 21d. per house per week. At each load the six Edison and three Garrett else. tries clear refuse from 120 houses, the time taken averaging half a minute per house, and the refuse 44 lb. per house, thus the complete loading of each • van takes one hour. Some of the vans collect as much as 70 tons a week, and each day collect in a different area, starting at the farthest area on Monday and working towards the dump.
Mr. Banks considers that the electric vehicles will. show a saving of between 20 and 30 per cent, over horses, but that their successful employment depends greatly upon co-operation by the householders. In East Ham this co-operation is enforced by a by-law. The council speeify the days and hours on which they will remove the refuse, and the householder must have all his refuse collected into a removable receptacle placed in such a position on the premises as will be most conveniently accessible from the nearest street. An offence against this by-law renders the ' householder liable to a penalty of 25.
To facilitate the work of loading, four fillers are provided for each van, and while one van is running to the dump another is being filled.
Mr. Banks has one complaint to make, and that is, that he says he cannot discover a reliable mileometer and one not subject to damage by vibration, etc.
At Islington we were received by Mr. H. C. Wigfield, M.Inst.C.S. There are 16 " dusting" districts in this borough, on each of which are employed four horses and vans with drivers and six fillers, the drivers also assisting in loading. The average num. ber of houses cleared weekly by these vans is 2,304, and the weight collected is 55 tons. Compared with this the two 21--ton Edison electric vehicles with six fillers clear 2,556 houses and collect 85tf tons. The following are the respective figures:—
amounts to 65,000 tons per year, and street sweepings to 30,000 tons. The vehicles utilized include 14 Edisons, one Orwell, and four G.V. electrics, ;while there are four more electric vehicles on order.
Mr. Wigfield considers that the use of electries for dust collection will be almost universal in the near future, as less outside supervision is required per vehicle, and the number of vehicles is more than halved. SinceeTune last year the time lost through repairs, adjustments, etc., was less than 1 per cent. withethe 2i-ton vehicles and less than 2 per cent. with the 3i-ton vehicles.
As regards the batteries, both lead and nickel types axe .utilized and give very satisfactory results. The lead batteries carry a two years' guarantee and usually last three, whilst the nickel batteries are guaranteed for eight years. The nickel type is cheaper to maintain in many ways and takes five hours to charge, against seven required by the lead type; also the acid in the latter is somewhat dangerous and expensive ; on the other hand, lead battthes consume less current (as much as a unit per mile being saved in some instances). The electrics utilized for house refuse collection arecprovided with interchangeable bodies for street ' watering, on which work each vehicle displaces four horses and vans.
The Borough of Croydon employs two G.V. 3!.-ton electrics on dust collection. These vehicles have been in service -since August, 1917. For a daily mileage of 20 their average cost is 36s. 7d. Apart from these vehicles, the electricity department uses a;b3i-ton Edison for carrying coal, and also employs a passenger runabout. of the same make. All four vehicles are giving very good service, and the motors have not required repair since the vehicles were purchased. On the work of carrying coal the men are paid by tonnage and earn from 16s. to 20s. per week extra in this way. On a 54-hour week the vehicle previously averaged-125 tons, but with the introduction of piecework the average was increased to 210 tons, but is now 170 tons, owing to the 47-hour week.
In refuse collection the vehicles make one stop every 20 yards while collecting, and sometimes clear as many ast200 houses in the one load.
From now until the end of September one of the alectries will act as a watering cart. The cost of running the Edison accumulator electric coal lorry may be of interest. For the five years, 1917-1921, the average costs are as follow in pence per mile :— Thus, the total cost per mile, except for charging and excluding wages, was 12.68d. Blackpool runs two 31-ton G.V. vehicles, one 2-tonner of the same make, and five 2-ton Electronicbites. Each of these vehicles costs about 30e. per week for current. Six of them are employed on refuse collection and two on street watering, these latter being used for refuse collection when not required_for watering. Mr. James Bell, the cleansing superintendent, estimates that for refuse collection one 2-ton electric is equal tosq horses, whilst one electric vehicle employed on street watering is equal to six horse vans. He considers that for refuse removal the lower the body is constructed the better.
Ilford employs seven Orwell electrics and one Edison. Of ' the Orwell machines one is a 3e-tonner and the remainder are 2-tonners, whilst the Edison is a 31-tonner. For the 31-tonnere the cost of the current consumed is 4.2d. per mile, and for the 2-ton'ners 5.25d. per mile, the reason for the increase in the latter case being that the smaller vehicles are employed on refuse collection whilst the others are employed on general work. The annual mileage for the 2-tonners is 4,600, and for the 34-tonners 6,000. The electricity supply is obtained from the town generating station at a cost of 31d. per unit, which appears to be somewhat high. Mr. H, Shaw, M.Ine.t.C.E., cleansing superintendent of Ilford, considers that the beet loading height for dust-collecting vans is 4 ft. 6 ins.
Mr. W. Bpulton. Smith, B.Sc., A.M.I.C.E., the borough -engineer, surveyor and water engineer of Dover, has kindly sent us particulars of the electric vehicles employed in that town. Six are at present in use, all being 2-ton Edisone, and employed solely for house-refuse collection, in which work they have proved very satisfactory.
For the year ended March, 1921, a total number of 15,068 hours were worked at an hourly cost of es. Hide the expenditure for five working vehicles being as follows:—
whilst the tonnage was 8,347.
For the year 1920-1921 the total cost of collection per ton, including interest and depreciation, was 12s. 2.5d., whilst from April to September, 1921, the cost had been reduced to us. 4d., the current consumption in units per mile being 2.5 and 1.89 respectively. The average miles per load-were 5.00 and 5.85 respectively, and the cost per ton-mile, counting the mileage both ways, buf. excluding the wages of loaders, was is. 7.45d., and is. 5.7d. for the aforementioned periods.
The current is obtained from the Dover Corporation Electricity Works at a cost of 4d, per unit, a mid-day boost being given to the vehicles. One of the outstanding advantages of the electric vehicle is in the matter of cleanliness, and most of the garages are kept in perfect condition whilst many new ones are being built, of-these a 'fine ex ample is that at Islington. '