Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-03-21

tests of all taxi typeS Snfl~ time ago
the company became coHNi1rrd that the
old style taxi had grave tati.tS and he
gan d campa ign for bette tdAIs ~
that time little eNpeEim autatloH had
been made with clectrIrS. l'ui the com
pany finally evolved an electric motel
which proved so successful in endur-
ance tests and in actual service that
this type adopted. and by the end
of this year the company will operate
pra .ticatIy all eleCtrlcs. fleet of more
than seventy cal BIS
That this success should be achieved
In Detroit. the home Of the gas car,
argues we'll for the electric and gives
more weight to the circumstance than
4 1t had happened in a city Of incense
quential standing in the automobile
world.
Care in Equipment Necessary.
IN regard to this development, the
Electric Vehicle Association recently
received a letter from f. u. ieck.
prominent engineer in THIS field, VINO
mas been carrying on extensive ana
very successful tests with electric tax
cabs in New York city. MIR. Peck de-
clares special care i'll equipment is
necessary; that conditions are favor
able now for introducing this type, and
ne promises definite operating RECORDS
within the month. There has been he
declares, lack OF enough
study of this problem by electric We
hicis men. ana the results hitherto
nave therefore not done justice to the
opportunity. 1t is necessary for the
electric taxi to equal gas standards OF
speed and mileage and to operate more
econ omIcally. II is also necessary to
consider such details as the present
definite system OF routes which drivers
follow between points. as these routes
are the most direct. and DETECTION from
ne I'm re f,tI JT1..
prGS There must also be considered
Che need of supply of taXicabs and
the value of this outlet to the manu-
facturer. Mr.. Peck says the conditions
for introducing the new type are IA
vorabie for the following reasons:
There is longer that prejudice
against automobiles that Iampered the
pioneers of the gas car in the days OF
the horse cab. chaUffeurs themselves
are appreciative OF a form of vehicle
which will lessen the strain of eight
auurs' daily driving through city traffic,
and the simplicity Of the electric's OPP
Grafton does this; and Furthermore, ex-
perience shows that ca companies and
others concerned cooperate heartily
With this movement Within a month
Mr.. Peck will have completed and put
on record with the Electric Vehicle AS
soctafion of America data on cab per-
Torrance. with statistics showing am
pere hours, ipput and output, ampere
houFs per mile, number of passengers
carried number of hours il service,
number of hours with average speeds
and the voluntary expressions of pa
irons TO drivers. The cars with which
Mr.. Peck has been experimenting av-
eraSe twenty hours service d day. and
are assured of an unlimited mileage
by means OF ystem Of boosting
the batteries This is accomplished by
having charging apparatus Installed
at the ca b Stands, SO that when driver
comes In from run he puts iii his
Ntur r4vNgr
batteries while waiting for the next
call
The most expensive application of
electriCs to taxicab service occurs in
Berlin, where there are about 600 cleo
tric taXIs, 1900 gasoline and $500 horse
cabs. Tine city authorities in Berlin
nave given great deal of attention
20 the subject of street traffic. with
view to avoiding congestion, to en-
couraglUg the use of vehicles of the
ieast Objectionable operation and to
promoting safety. As a means of ac-
comprising this, the city authorities
nave passed an ordinance limiting the
number OF taxi licenses for gas cars
electrics and horse-drawn cabs The
b"rli: eiectrlCs are owned by in
dividuals and small companies operat-
ing about twenty cars each.
Method Pursued in Berlin.
In view OF the fact that American
central stations are now making "A
united and widespread effort toward
promoting electric vehicles it is inter
eettng to note German method for
the same purpose. The central station
at Berlin furnishes and owns the taxi
cab batteries and also the battery charS-
ing stations. furnishing battery main
tenance on n mileage basis. This com
pany provides facilities for supplying
taxfcab owners with fresh batteries
NJ a nj Il
The practice here is to have approx
nately two sets of batteries for each
car. One battery station, taking care
of $50 cabs. had an equipment Of 900
Guiding ground. charging apparatus
etc. was s2560o0 1t is to be noted
that this method of supplying two sets
Of batteries for each car Is not so eco
nofnicai as the New York boosting
method. The lead batteries used in
these German cabs consist of forty
cells each. with n rated capacity of
$50 ampere hours at the tve-hour dis
charge rate. The life of the positive
plate amounts to about $4,000 kNo-
meters, while that of the negative plate
amounts to 10000 kilometers. a charge
OF cehts per mile is made for mainte-
nance OF battery, small car repairs and
electricity. This includes $50 ampere
hours of electricity, which is the nor
NAL amount used at one time. If a
battery requires more than this il Is
sent to the shop for inspection and re-
pairs. The taxicahs have regular hours
Tor coming into the garage, and In this
way good factor tabout 6s per cent?
IS secured One garage, having loo
taxfcabs and d few other cars, was
taking care Of $50 batteries, requiring
the use of 100000 kilowatt hours per
year. at the rate of IA cents per kilo-
watt hour The charging equipme nj
has copper bus bars instead of cable
and conduit work, and such wiring az
- required Is so-called open work,
the wire being treated with acid-proo1
covering every six years Energy IL
supplied at 5000 volts alternating cur
rent, from which direct current is OBJ
tanned by use OF rotary converters In
some stations these rotaries have a ca
pacity of 1000 kilowatts for taking
care of 200 batteries. Practically nc
resistance is used In charging circuits
As the batteries are charged on the
constant potential system. No wat,
hour meters are used either on the in
diridual charging circuits or on the
bS. The he. re