MOTOR JOTTINGS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12755, 26 September 1919, Page 8

MOTOR JOTTINGS.

ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION. Electric transmission, when employed in conjunction with a petrol engine, undoubtedly has certain very noteworthy advantages. The chief of these is that it provides, in effect, an infinite variety of gears and eliminates shock and sudden changes of acceleration such as may be involved in the changing of gears of the ordinary type. Furthermore, it enables a very powe>lul torque to be applied to overcome the inertia when a vehicle has to be started from a standstill. On the other hand, it tends to put up cost and weight, and it introduces machinery which is not well undeistood by the average motorist or motor mechanic. In the simplest form of petrol-elec-tric the power of the engine serves to drive a dynamo which supplies electrical power to one or more electric motors. if only one electric motor is used the differential gear must be retained; if two, then*it can be dispensed with. Storage batteries are sometimes provided to assist in starting and on hills. The idea is good in theory, but has not panned out very well in practice. In one very ingenious system the drive is electrical and partly mechanical- Under eaay-nwming conditions a direct mechanical drive is given and all electrical losses are thns eliminated. When starting the drive is mainly electrical, and for intermediate conditions the proportion of electrical to mechanical drive is variec automatically. This system—known as the “ 'ihomas electro-mechanical transmission’'—has proved particularly successful when applied to heavy railcoaches and to road trains capable ol dealing with loads of twenty tons or more carried in a series of vehicles, each of which contributes its share to the propulsion of the train. MOTOR COACHES. The development of the motor-coach or char-a-bancs, after having 1 been much impeded by the war, is now likely to proceed very rapidly. The operation of such vehicles, if' intelligently organised, has been found m many instances, to be extremely lucrative. There are, for example, many cases in which small proprietors have made profits covering the whole cost of their vehicles during one season. The present tendency is to increase the length of motor-coach trips as it is often found that the longer trips are better patronised than the short ones. Thus visitors to Great Britain who want to sco a good deal of the country m a sho-t time will be able to take part in motor-coach tours lasting aweek or a fortnight, for which reasonable fares inclusive of all hotel expenses will be charged. There must be maii£ other countries in which similar ~entures would prove financially -successful, and the idea is well worth the consideration of anyone possessing the necessary facilities for maintaining and repairing the vehicles.