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

PASSENGER CARRYING—TYPES OF VEHICLES 119 This operates by varying the resistence in the shunt field of the generator, and by shunting the series field of the motor. The chief disadvantage of the petrol-electric chassis is that owing to the necessity for running the engine at comparatively high speed, fuel consumption is apt to be heavy. It would seem, however, that great possibilities lie in a magnetic form of transmission, for any system which can combine simplicity with reliability and yet prove economical would obviously have a great future before it. The Automatically-fired Steam Gar. Although not quite so simple in the handling as the petrol-electric, this car possesses great power of rapid yet smooth acceleration, and this quality is a distinct asset, for the reason that a better Schedule can be kept than with a machine which is slow at starting and stopping. As regards means of effecting economy in the opera- tion of passenger-carrying vehicles, the remarks in Chapters XXI, XXII, and XXIII apply.