The Saint Paul globe., 1902-06-26

in fulfllment Of Edison's pre-
dictions, made two years ago,
the electric vehicle is now a
commercial success.
At the big factory which Edison is put
ting up at Glen Ridge, N j., the great
inventor hopes to be soon building cleo
trio motor conveyances which shall not
only carry passengers, but move freight.
Edison has accomplished his last great
inventive triumph by one of the simplest
of devices. He has made a battery of
nickel and steel, instead of lead-an in
destructible metal is substituted for one
notably unreliable. That is the whole
story.
Secret of EdisOn's Success.
What has hitherto initiated against
the success of ordinary storage batteries
when used in connection with vehicles
was the fact that the batteries, when
charged, could not hold sufficient power
to drive the conveyance more than about
forty miles without being recharged. II
the entire power of the battery We're used
up before the recharging was done the
battery deteriorated and would not per-
form its work properly.
Besides, the jarring and swaying Of
these storage battery conveyances on
roads made the plates of the battery
buckle" or bend out Of shape. Little
and what with constantly reloading and
repairing, the electric motor became a
mere toy. Hence it was that gasoline,
naphtha and other explosive and ill
smelling gases were found to be far more
serviceab1e than the electric fluid.
Edison knew there was some way in
which electricity could be made service
able in the propulsion of electric We
hic1es. For a number of years he has
ba ir7Inc Of CT
age battery that would stand the test
for all road purposes. Setting aside all
precedents-as is Edison's way when he
goes to work-he began experimenting
with various metals which could be sub
stituted for lead and zinc.
In the ordinary battery the heavy met
ais lead and zinc are acted upon, by sui
phuric acid. This makes electricity The
powerful acid soon eats into the metals
with which it is in contact. and the life
of the battery is brief.
Principles of the Battery.
The principal constituents Of Edison's
battery are two little cakes or briuuettes
that bear a strong resemblance to stove
: polish Each little cake is three inches
long by one-half inch wide. One cake is
composed of nickel and graphite, the
other Of iron and graphite. The graphite
in both cakes does not undergo any
chemical change itself, but it is only
placed in the briquette to stimulate chem
ical action.
The nickel briquette is placed at the
positive pole of the battery; the iron at
the negative pole When the briuuettes
have been made ty certain chemical
processes known only to Edison they are
placed in tiny perforated steel boxes.
these boxes are then placed in frames,
each frame holding twenty-four bri-
quettes.
The steel coverings of the briquettes
are submitted to a pressure of 100 tons.
This brings the substance of the bri-
qrettes in close contact with the per-
f9rated covers. W0en the frames holding
the briquettes are placed in the potash
solution the briquette substance is quick
ly acted upon by the solution, and the
chemical action that creates electricity
begins.
AS the potash solution has no effect
upon nickel or hon, no deteriorattye
change takes place in the battery itself.
Ia the old-style batteries the sulphuric
acid soon eats into the zinc and lead
plates, and makes them crumble away
The new Edison battery has five poinls
OIL etlciency, which make it far superior
i to the old style OF storage battery First
It will do two and one-half times as
much work, weight for weight, as the
CID battery. For instance, if an old bat
terry, weighing 100 pounds, will drive a
vehicle twenty miles, an Edison battery
weighing forty pounds, will drive the We
hicle fifty miles.
In recent tests made by Edison on the
roads near his factory near Glen Ridge.
battery weighing 332 pounds has pro-
PEELED vehicle weighing 1,75O pounds
7 slXty-two miles without recharging. The
Sn6p6 q M and ~ 4hA
cent of the starting speed This is a
remarkable showing, as an old-style bat
terry of more than double the weight
would not have carried the same convey
apce more than twenty-five miles; and.
indeed, 1t is doubtful if the grades, which
in some cases were IL per cent, could
have been overcome by the heavily
weighted vehicles.
Points of Superiority.
Another test made by Edison was to
send the same automobile eighty-five
miles over comparatively level road
without recharging the battery
These two crucial tests have convinced
the great inventor that the electric au-
tomobile is now IN assured fact
The second great point about the Ed
ison battery is that it does not deterio-
rate through usage. Edison found that
his batteries at the end of the eighty
five-mile run were "as good as new,''
and they could be 1echarged Immediately
without hurting them. Ordinarily a bat
terry, when exhausted and then quickly
recharged, loses Il efficiency and never
gives back the same power that IT did
in the first instance
The cheapness of the Edison battery is
the third point which the inventor en-
phasizes. He figures that an automobile
for delivery purposes, equipped with an
Edison storage battery, will not cost more
than $780,
1t is ESisons desire to make the cleo
trio vehicle possibility for the poor man.
as it was his determination through the
monograph, to make music within the
reach of ALL While Edison has keen eye
for business he is something of a phil
arthropist. Where. up to this time, many
a person could not afford to keep a HORSE
owing not so much to the first price for