Motor Road Transport For Commercial Purposes
(Liquid Fuel, Steam, Electricity)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES 81 differential gear to the road wheels through the medium of side chains. Another system is by means of gearing in place of the chain drive from motor spindle to counter-shaft. If two motors are fitted, they may either be placed in the wheel hubs or connected by spur-gearing. In the former case the chief disadvantages are that large- size hubs are required and slow-running motors, and this means increased weight and direct contact with road wheel shocks. The advantages are that owing to the elimination of gearing, efficiency is increased and weight is saved : thus the total weight of the two designs probably would not differ to any great extent, When front wheel drive is adopted, tlie motors are, as a rule, connected to the driving wheels, as in the case of the spur gearing pattern mentioned above, through some spring attachment in order to ensure correct meshing of the wheels under running conditions. The uses to wliich. the electric vehicle is being put are constantly increasing, and a very good example of this is to be found in the almost universal adoption of the electrically-driven chassis by municipalities and other public bodies. 6—(1889)