ELEGTRIC VANS

Evening Star, Issue 19893, 15 June 1928, Page 2

ELEGTRIC VANS

HEW AND INEXPENSIVE LIGHTWEIGHT MODEL The quick ana cheap delivery of (foods in town areas, involving much stopping and starting, 'presents problems which have been, faced by a number of our large, stores, ami satisfactorily solved by the use of batterydriven vehicles. For this kind of work the electric has many advantages over the horse and petrol-driven van. Its handiness and superior acceleration enable it” to negotiate dense traffic with ease and'quickness. It is always first out of the garage, and there are no starting troubles, even under the severest of winter conditions. As all motion is purely rotary and all moving parts are,carried on ball or roller bearings, upkeep and power costs arc extremely small, and breakdowns are very rare. Also, they do not foul the street and pollute the air, and for this reason are much to be preferred in the interests of public health.. There ( are no obnoxious fumes, .and; the driver has no mechanic’s work to perform, and this, it will be appreciated, is a great recommendation in the food services.

Hitherto the greatest obstacle to the more general use of electric vehicles has been their high first cost. Owing to the enterprise of a largo North of England bakery company, this objection no longer obtains. Some five years ago a British firm who are the owners of a large fleet of vehicles, including steam, horse, and petrol vans, decided that tor their town delivery services the electric was the ideal vehicle. They therefore designed and built a vehicle for themselves, and now have a number of these vans in daily service. The construction of the chassis and body is extremely light, but sound. The main frame is of best well-seasoned ash, reinforced with channel steel members. The front ends of these members are connected by a sheet of heavy gauge steel plate, which forms the seating for the battery, this being mounted under the bonnet. The drive is by a single motor, mounted amidships, and running on 48 V through a cardan shaft with two flexible couplings to an overhead worm and differential. The motor is, of course, of the traction type, with double-wound fields and of 3 h.p. normal, and is claimed to bo capable of overloads of more than 100 per cent. For special heavy duty in hilly districts a more powerful motor is fitted at extra cost.

Control is by means of a drum-type controller fitted under the driver’s seat, giving four speeds forward and three reverse. The foot brake operates in drums, fitted to the rear wheels, and the hand brake to a drum on the worm shaft, this brake being interlocked with the main switch.