Abstract
ACCORDING to the Electrical Times of September 28, one result of the outbreak of war is a considerable increase in the number of inquiries received by manufacturers of electric accumulators and vehicles as to the price of their wares, the charges of electricity required by the vehicles and the distance traversed for a given charge on a smooth road. Petrol rationing has compelled owners of motor-vehicles to curtail seriously their usual transport facilities, and they are considering the relative advantages of petrol and electricity for transport. Since electric vehicles take their power from storage batteries they are designed as a rule to have only a moderate range of action, varying from about 25 to 45 miles per charge of the batteries. The distance depends on the number of steps that have to be made. If the number of stops are numerous and the average time of a stop long, the advantage lies greatly on the side of the electric vehicle, since it only takes power when it is running. Most retail deliveries are carried out on a ‘customer convenience’ basis and not on ‘transport economy basis’. It has been estimated that the petrol ration for C licence holders is only sufficient for their vans and lorries to cover half the normal mileage. If they have been doing about 75 miles per day, then they would be able to substitute an electric vehicle and still be in the same position as at present. For any distance between 35 and 75 miles per day, an electric vehicle would be an excellent substitute for a petrol one. The electric vehicle has other advantages. It has a long life; low maintenance and cheap running costs enable it, for many duties, to prove superior to alternative transport methods. In addition, it has the advantage of being exceptionally clean, free from fumes and simple to operate. A one-ton carrying capacity petrol van running 10,000 miles a year will use about 650 gallons of petrol, whereas the electric will use 4,000 units of electricity, or about 3 tons of coal. Owing to the grid, if at any time difficulties in transport should arise, then those power stations involving the minimum amount of coal transport could take over much of the load.
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The Electric Battery Vehicle. Nature 144, 627 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144627b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144627b0
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