Boosting the Battery Vehicles.
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Mr. F. Ayton, Borough Electrical Engineer of Ipswich, suggests that the electrical engineer is principally concerned to get rid ol surplus current. We review his Introductory Notes to a Discussion on "Electric Battery Vehicles," and we suggest the inexpediency of putting all one's delivery eggs into one basket. The speakers who followed Mr. Ayton are reported on pp. 88-89.
" Little wonder that the central-station engineer . . . . is keen on doing all that he can to popularize the electrie vehicle and to facilitate its adoption." We quote from the introductory notes, prepared by Mr. F. Ayton, a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in older to inaugurate a discussion on " Electric Battery Vehicles,' which took place on Thursday, the 19th inst.
Why the Electrical Vehicle is Being Pushed.
The electrical engineer, especially he who is responsible for central-station generating plant, is naturally desirous of encouraging the use of batterydriven vehicles, and particularly of the commercial class of machine, in order to render service to the central-station idea. The electric vehicle as a self.. contained automobile, and that exclusively implies the. battery-propelled type and not those of time petrolelectric class, is therefore being exploited at the
edc present time with consrable energy, not principally because its .advocates are necessarily persuaded that it is the best proposal for many classes of work at this stage of development, but more particularly because it. is a means—and a plausible means-of helping out the central-station engineer with his ever-preemit, load-factor problem. Anything which can provide,an " off-peak load'' for turbines and generators or oil engines and their electrical equipment is must desirable hi ow the point of view of those engineers whose creed it is to put as many eggs in one basket as possible in the matter of power production.
Would You Seek the Advice of a Motor-spirit Company on the Choice of a Steam Wagon?
Sales propaganda, therefore, which, are branded with opportunism of this kind are comparable, shall we say, to any special pleading of the huge petrol combines on behalf of the petrol-propelled vehicle as .against the steamer. The principal reasons why the latter exploiters would be expected to advocate the exclusive use of the internal-combustion engine would not necessarily be because they whole-hearteclly felt that the steam wagon had no claims to consideration. The analogy %vitt be apparent.
The user is, therefore, more than likely to look somewhat askance at the recommendations of the electrica,1 vehicle which proceed exclusively from those who wish to get rid of surplus power. It was on behalf of the latter that Mr. F. Ayton pleaded their cause in the opening proceedings on Thursday of last week. Our readers may recall that the Incorporated Municipal Electrical Association has formed a special Electric-Vehicle Committee " to popularize the electrical vehicle and to facilitate its adoption." This committee consists of representatives of the electrical manufacturing interests, electric-power committees, electrical-vehicle manufacturers and agents, and others.
Its Trials and Its Failures as a Passenger Machine.
" At the re,oment," we learn, " the most premising Opening for the electrical vehicle. appeals to lie in its use for commercial purposes ; but it is by no means improbable that the passenger-carrying vehicle, whether for business or pleasure purposes, will eventually be considered from the central-station point of view almost as important as the commercial type of vehicle." If we recall correctly, the only experiments which have hitherto been made on any considerable scale in this country with battery-propelled automobiles have been exclusively for passenger-carrying purposes, either as cabs, electric coupes; c2 or as electric buses, or even as battery trams, and it is instructive to remember, although no doubt there are excellent and individual reasons for such a state of affairs, that none of these types survives as a practical proposition at the present time.
Battery Vehicles Have a Reputation to Live Down.
Mr. Ayton asks that the electric vehicle of to-day should not be judged by the experience of even a few years ago in this country. Sue!' a plea has our energetic support, but we must be convinced that the drawbacks of a while ago have now been satisfactorily eradicated. The friends of the electrical vehicle will find that it is an extremely difficult thing to combat la-ejudices in respect of plant of this kind which have been formed as the result of complete failures of early examples, after a long interval in which rival systems have made good in remarkable manner. Signal and outstanding success in the present is a sine qua you if it be desired to live down a bad reputation of the past. •
The principal reasons for the improvements which are claimed for the modern eleetromobile are summarized by the author as: great advantages in sturdy battery construction ; improvement in the design of motors for electric vehicles ;. increased efficiency of ball and roller bearings ; lightening of chassis construction and better and more efficient tires. The last three factors, of course, have also satisfactorily operated in respect of all other classes of motor vehicles.
The Reasons for U.S.A. Use.
The usual reference to the proved popularity of the electric runabout and the electric treat in U.S.A. was, of course, made by Mr. Ayton. The special reasons which, have operated to bring this result about were dealt with by a, well-informed correspondent in our issues dated the 17th and the 24th April, 1913, which may be with advantage turned up for reference at this juncture. Our correspondent then cited as causes of such U.S.A. success: that the petrol van was a negligible competitor when the electromobile first "got going " there; that ;their employment as private cars was useful propagarda for the.: commercial-vehicle field ; and that the powerful organization of the Electric Vehicle Association of :luieriter. advertised and developed the industry most effectively.
Berlin's Experience of Electric Taxis.
"Iii certain cities on the European Continent this type of automobile is rapidly coming into general use, and hundreds are already running and giving satis, factory and economical service." The comparative results which have been achieved in Berlin, and of which our special Berlin correspondent writes on page 87 will be perused with special interest in this connection.
Something to Live Up To.
"The electric vehicle can show a degree of economy and a record for reliability with which no other existing type of vehicle can hope to compete" The publication of attested figures over a considerable period of operation under normal working conditions here in England will be awaited with interest in respect of the first claim. Few central statians. arc now hungering for work at 2-d. a unit. With regard to the second claim, 99.99 per cent, of efficiency of running achieved by the L.G.O.C., and recorded in our issue for the 12th of February last, at any rate.would seem to offer the electric vehicle "a run for -its mon*"
Boosting the Battery Vehicle.—con,
What are the Leeds Trolleybus Results?
We should be more readily convinced of Mr. Ayton's claim for the economy of the trolleybus had. Mr. Hamiiton'a figures as to the net cost ot operatiou in Leeds been made available for considesation and criticism. The enthusiasm with which municipalities and public-service corporations throughout the country are now almost scrambling tor indepen, dently-driven motorbuses is not, to say the least of it, direct evidence of their conviction ot the comparato e superiority of the trolleybus from emi to end of that proposition. It has to be renteinberest, too, that the majority of people who are placing orders for independent motorbuses at the ,present time are interested io central-station undertakings, which is significant. What better chance of showing municipal economy than by choosing the battery bus I
Strange!
'The congested state of our thoroughfares demands the horse's removal, and upon the basis of operating costs the electric vehicle is the only type in powerdriven machine that can take its place, alai yet the London General Omnibus Co. WIS repeteett seine Paw) of them with types ether than elksarie automobiles, and some 60,000 others have been similarly replaced in London.
The Tramcar the Noisiest Traffic Unit.
Mach of Mr. Ayton's argument as to the old horse V. motor problem is, as a matter or tact, common to the automobile in ail its various guises, aria had no Special bearing on the ability of the electrie vehicle in particular to supplant the horse. His claim that the noise and firneli from the petrol vehicle have been the cause of bitter complaint is discounted entirely by the admitted fact that die electric tramcar is, at the present time, the noisiest traffic unit in city traffic, and, as a matter oh fact, actually an intolerable nuisance at crossosers and points, whilet the latest London bus is as quiet as the highest-grade touring car. Quietude is desirable we :nisei!, but it can obviously be attained and, indeed, has been, by other means than the electric-battery vehicle.
The Problem Before the Committee.
Mr. Ayton's concluding remarks are instructive
ith regard to the problem which this committee has to face: " I propose to conclude these very general remarks by touching upon the work that is necessary in order to bring the uses and advantages of the electric vehicle before the general public. AL the outset I would say that, in my opinion, we cannot look for much assistance at present from existing motor traders and garage proprietors. They .ase in posses:ion of an established business in connection with the petrol vehicle, and by which no doubt they are making good profits. They do not want that business interfered with, and they may have grave doubts
as to the utility of the electric vehicle. As to its mechanism, its merits and its economy, they are pro
foundly ignorant. They will only wake up to its possibilities when they see a created business around them and find a redaction in the sales of the petrol vehicle. It behoves the electricity-supply outhori ag those who ore going to benefit most by. the e.etcngion of the We of the electricol rthicle The italics are ours.— TN.] to work hand in band with the manufacturers, and to carry on an active propaganda for advertising the electric vehicle. We nmet advertise its good qualities, its ease of driving, its all-round economy, and its reliability."
We Look Forward to Successful Exploitation.
We must, of course, concede to Mr. Ayton his claims for quietude of operation. Its ease of driving is also self-evident. Its economy under the best con ditions is possible. Its reliability should be fairly compasablo with the best classes of petrol and steam
-driven chassis at the present time. Its serious in respect of speed, power and operating area are problems which Lae LiectricV chicle Committee will uo well to tackle, and we on our part wotuu wish to see their eilorts crowned with succt...ss, tor it would only no to the advantage of the commercial-vehicleowning community at large to have an additional aiternateas system from e inch to choose. Competition in types and methods as tile life-mood ol the constructional side ot an mouser), such as that in which we are all interested.
The serious and coneidered exploitation of the electric-battery vehicle which is now being initiated brings these machines once again very late into a hetet which is now so admirably served by types varying so remarkably in capacity as the 2 cwt. paredcar and the 7-ton petrol wagon. Evidence of successiati and economical operation in these two types, and of those between them, is available in great quantity at this date.
The special pleading of the electric-vehicle mama facturees in America has accomplished much in a country which is not so advanced in respect of the commercial-motor industry as we are in Great Britain. Experiments in 'fiance and Berlin are instructive from the point of view of the financial possibilities of the battery chassis. That the latter may be uow given the best chance to make good will be the wish of all those who desire progress for the industry x.s a whole, and not least of those who desire to sell surplus supplies of electricity.
The Menace of the Central Station in Times of
Strike.
One concluding word of warning—and it is a grave one. In these days of labour upheavals, the independent commercial motor has not infrequently already saved the community from exhausting harm —the dock strikes and the railway strikes in England and last year's Liberty Hall business in Dublin. Is it wise for users to forego this insurance of independent supplies and deliveries by acquiring vehicles which will depend for their life-blood upon one centralstation? What owner of electric trucks will not wish he had plumped for the steamer or the petrol wagon —which he could, at a pinch, drive himself, when he learns that the central-station, on which he is dependent, is shut down because the stokers, shall we say, are on sympathetic strike'? We never have advocated the putting of all the eggs in one basket in respect of power introduction. Experience of recent labour tendencies inclines us to do so less than ever. With his own independent wagon and a respectable stock of coal or petrol, lie can always maintain some sort of a service when the central-station has come to a standstill. The labour organizer always has his eye on the central-station, it will be recalled