Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-24
GIVES ADVICE ON
DRIVING ELECTR|CS
n. B. Hart, Jr., Contributes
Some Helpful Hints on 0pe-
ration of Vehicles.
OWNERS SHOULD KNOW
MECHANISM OF MACHINES
Emphasizes Importance of Elimi-
mating Unnecessary Stops and
Avoiding Skidding.

Avoiding Skidding.
one of the features of the last meet
ing of the Washington section of the
Electric Vehicle Association of Amer
lea was an address delivered by II. B.
Hart. jr.. assistant superintendent of
substations. Potomac Electric Power
Company, on Electric Vehicles in Pri-
Vate Garages" A portion of his re-
marks was devoted to the care and
operation of an electric vehicle. He
said in part:
INSTRUCTION books on various makes
of cars cover well the operating of the
car. it's starting. running and stopping.
and explain the various speeds and the
controller connection. They cover also
the lubricatio nof the car and the ad-
Justment of various parts of the car.
They often include instructions for
charging the battery and it's general
care. You should be deeply grateful to
the salesman who earnestly requests
YOU to study the book which Is or
should be given with car, whether 1t
is to be kept in private OF public
garage. In the not too distant past
preston that the ignorance of the
owner was the dealers bliss. The
owner can readily disilluSionize such a
dealer or garage by familiarizing him
self with details of construction and
operation of the parts of the car, in
Guiding the battery. You will learn the
names of various parts of the car, and
further you will then understand their
functions, their use and abuse, and
whether you want to do the work
yourself, superintend it or have 1t done
outside you will know when - and how hoy,
it should be done. Your service VIII
be propOrtionate ly better.
Always Leave Controller Off.
Now there are some points in these
books / want to emphasize and some
not in them that may be useful. In
operating the car be seated in the
car before you unlock the controller or
insert plug. Always be sure the con-
troller is off before inserting the run
ming plug or key to unlock the con-
troller release the brake and keep
your foot on the brake pedal. Where
the controller is not supplied with a
lock, but merely uses a plug, 1t Is
doubly important to see that the con-
troller is off. for if it it were on and
the plug inserted you are liable to be
taken off your guard with more or less
serious consequences. Remember that
while you may have left the controller
off some one in your absence may
have tempered with it. Do not start too
rapidly, as it not only causes excessive
strain on the various parts INCLUDING
tires, where made practice, but where
there are frequent stops and restarts,
will considerably reduce the mileage
because of the very high current re-
quired due to rapid starting. If you
about each twenty-five feet the car
should start smoothly and with no un
due strain. 1t is well to form the habit
of trying the brakes soon after start
ing out. Thus you will know they are
in proper working order and can judge
what distance you can stop the car at
various speeds. Regularly use the
service brake. Most cars are equipped
with an emergency brake. to be used as
it's name implies. 1t might be well to
state that in the EXTREMIST emergency
you can throw on the reverse. This
should only be done to avoid accident,
and not when running fast or on slip
perry streets. it may make matters
worse by causing the car to skid or
snap driving chain Or gear The
brakes should be applied first and the
controller moved to only one point re-
verse This requires rapid but careful
and certain manipulation of the con-
troller, and must only be done in an
extreme emergency. You have probably
been in trolley car when it has been
stopped in this manner. and you Won
dered why you SO suddenly had an If.
resistible impulse to move up front
A trolley can be stopped this way with
little danger, because the wheels run on
tracks and skidding cannot be caused.
=" ME speaking OIL ShlOulnS let US
stop moment and consider 1t. On
turning the front wheels force is ex-
erted to change the original direction
of motion. The rear wheels would natu-
rally continue in the original direction
of the driving force. If the coeff1cient
of traction between tires and road can
not resist this action the car will skid.
This is aggravated by speed and
sharp a turn at too high a speed or by
suddenly jamming the brakes on too
hard. A skid is not dangerous If there
is plenty of room to manipulate the
car. In the first place do not cut off
the power entirely. The best possible
thing to do is to quickly turn the
keep the controller on say second point
of five or six speed controller and
the brakes applied sufficiently to reduce
speed. Far better, however. is it to use
care to avoid skidding. So when streets
are bad run slowly when making any
turns.
Practice Reversing the Car.
Practice reversing the car-that is.
backing it. In congested districts it is
frequently necessary to back out. and it
IS important to be able to do this easily.
Never attempt to run backward at high
speed. You are liable to become con-
fused and either fail to throw the con-
troller properly or turn the wheels the
wrong way, and an accident Is liable to
result. Practically all cars have some
emergency method of cutting Off power
with an emergency pedal or key that
can be removed to cover such emergency
conditions. On most cars having five or
six controller speeds, the first two are
what are known as resistance points OF
starting speeds. certain amount OF
resistance Is in the circuit to limit the
flow of current and accelerate the cal
gradually. They are not running points
though usually the rheostats are heavy
enough to carry the current for some
time and frequently in very crowded
streets have to do so. Continuous run
ming on the starting points may heat the
rheostat and damage it. There is. OF
course. no economy in running a car OF
such a point. as the current required will
usually be as much as the next speed
where the rheostat is cut out, while the
speed will be less.
Find out which is the most economical
running speed and use that unless you
are really in hurry, when you may use
the higher speed. Your mileage per
charge will be greater and hence your
current. bill less tires will last longer
too. for normal tire wear varies as the
square of the speed. This to a large ex-
tent accounts for high tire costs on gas
cars Now, when you are going to make
4 stop, do not wait till you are a few
feet from the point you wish to stop, but
cut the power off some distance back
and drift in. This saves power and al