The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-06-01
EDISON PERFECTS
STORAGE BATTERY
From the New York World.

From the New York World.
At his laboratory at West Orange. N. j.,
Thomas A. Edison announced yesterday
that his latest invention, the nickle-iron
storage battery which he has been perfect
ing for more than year, had fully come
up to his expectations, and that severe
tests had demonstrated that the automo-
bile and auto-trucking problem had been
solved, and that the automobile that
would run 100 miles on one change of
battery was assured.
Mr.. Edison based this statement on the
result of two tests made within one week
one on last Friday and the other on Mon
day.
we have put the horse out of busi-
ness" said the Wizard.
Il sent my two men, Bee and Fleiss, out
on the road last Friday, and told them
to run the machine over a few rough
roads and tackle a few bad hills. They
ran sixty-two miles. up seventy-fve hills
the grades of which averaged from two
to twelve per cent, through some bog
holes, and returned with SO per cent of the
speed they went out with and the voltage
had only dropped seven volts from the
original twenty-nine.
THAT was pretty good, but wasn't sat
isfied," continued Edison II told EN- to
go out again on Monday when the roads
were heavy from the rain, and told EN-
to run the blame thing till she stopped,
but they did eighty-five miles before that
happened"
The machine used In these tests was an
ordinary electric runabout fitted with the
Edison batteries, twenty-one cells, with
q total required weight Of 3S2 pounds. The
plates are contained In a neat little steel
case about twelve inches high by six by
four inches, looking more like varnsh
can than anything else. The interior Of
this steel cell Is lined with an insulating
material that is not attacked by the So
luton of potassium hydrat used in the
cell. The positive element is made of iron
and the negative of nickel.
Mr. Edison was asked II the battery
was open to the same objections as the
old form of storage battery, the plates
of which buckle under a heavy load or
short circuit.
Not on your life!" he replied. You
can't do that battery up!We've been try
ing to do 1t right along. but haven't sue
ceeded
~ went out In one Of those high power
gasoline vehicles the other day. We went
over tho same ground as was gone over
with this new storage-battery machine
We got to one Of those steep hills, and
Mr.. Gasoline nearly stopped"
The principal advantage, after the en-
DURANGO and capacity consideration, Is
the light weight of the battery. 1t will
cost about as much to charge set of
batteries for a given run as it would be
supply gasoline to an engine OF equal
power for the same run; but the cost Of
the maintenance will be practically nil,
the battery requiring no attention but
the occasional renewal Of water lost by
evaporation. In an emergency the battery
can be charged for a run of twenty miles
in forty minutes, or the length of charg-
ing can be extended over twelve hours.
Work will~be started Immediately on
the manufacture of these new cells at
the Edison factory In Glen Ridge. n. j.,
and more exhaustive tests will be made
with wagons for heavy trucking and on
launches and small yachts, and next week
an endurance lest. during which the bat
terry will be worked over five thousand
miles of the hardest roads. which can be
found will start.