Abstract
ELECTRICAL engineers have recently been con-JCi sidering the relative merits of vehicles driven by electric batteries and of those driven by petrol. Considerable difference of opinion exists on this point, and so the paper by Dr. Strohe, of Cologne, a translation of which appears in World Power of June, is of value as he gives the results of practical tests on the two classes of vehicle. . Dr. Strohe summarizes the relative performances of an electric and a petrol vehicle as follows. Electric vehicles have a life of twenty years and their maintenance costs are five per cent. Petrol vehicles have a life of ten years and their maintenance costs are ten per cent. The ‘fuel’ costs of the latter are about four times greater than that of the former. The capital cost of the large electric vehicle is now lower than that of a petrol vehicle of similar loading capacity, and in addition the oil required is less and the tires last longer. The economic advantages, therefore, are in favour of the electric vehicle. The results show that the daily performance of an electric commercial vehicle after several years' use lies between 18 and 24 miles, and it can double this distance on one battery charge. Electrical vehicles are now available with speeds up to twenty miles per hour; but the radius can be extended by increasing the size of the battery. Increasing the size of the batteries is only advantageous when the batteries are in full-time use. Otherwise the heavier batteries mean additional non-paying load.
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Industrial Use of Electric Batteries. Nature 138, 297–298 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138297b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138297b0