CHAPTER XIII
ELECTRIC CARS
By the Editor of 'The Automotor'
An electromobile is a vehicle propelled by one or more electric motors driven by current supplied by accumulators carried on the car itself.
In dealing with the subject it is not proposed to go into detail as regards matters of car-construction, arrangements of gearing, or the other features which every electromobile necessarily possesses in common with other self-propelled vehicles; the intention is to deal mainly with the special features which characterise it, the assumption being made that readers are now familiar with the general mechanical principles involved in all classes of self-propelled vehicles.
An electric vehicle may be regarded as consisting of a body, a running gear, with one or two motors mounted on it and arranged to operate the driving wheels of the vehicle through speed reduction gearing, of a battery of accumulators carried on the car itself, of connections between this battery and the motors, and of a controller, the functions of which will be explained.
It will perhaps be best to deal with the subject in accordance with this general division, and first of all to consider the principles and characteristics of electric motors and accumulators, after that the connection between the two—under which heading the construction of the controller will be discussed, and the general principles will be considered. Then it is proposed to give a cursory description of different types of running gear, illustrated by a couple of actually running electric
