Sad story about two Edwards
In the first decade of the XNUMXth century, it was not yet clear whether the main wheeled transport would be dominated by internal combustion engines, electric or even steam engines. And the horses still had something to say.
The first electric buses appeared on the streets of London not a month or a year ago, but in the summer of 1907. "Electric buses", as they were called, did not smoke or make noise, so it was expected that they would soon supplant competition from diesel cars. “The fate of the gasoline-powered omnibus is sealed,” wrote the Daily News, whose article was quoted in the September issue of NewScientist magazine.
Everything looked promising, especially since bus routes are usually fixed, so all the logistics related to charging or changing the battery can be planned. Yet London's electric bus adventure lasted only two years, after which the city apologized to petrol drivers.
Persuaded and did not pay
Why did it happen and the electrician did not conquer the mass passenger transport market? Historians see problems caused by heavy, bulky, and inefficient lead-acid batteries. But New Scientist says the real reason the idea failed was that the electric bus company was run by scammers.
It was led by two Edwards with a rather suspicious reputation. Edward Ernest Levess Oraz Edward "Teddy" Bealwho was previously released from prison. After announcing an offer to sell three hundred cars to the city, they also offered shares worth PLN 300 20 to investors. pounds. They also claimed to have bought it for XNUMXXNUMX. a patent for electric buses giving them the exclusive right to use this technology. However, investigative journalists quickly discovered that the patent does exist, but for a completely different device, and there is no trace of a stable, a pub, and production lines at the site of the factory in West London, where the electric buses were supposed to be produced.
A scandal erupted. Investors demanded a refund. Indeed, about a thousand of these people had to pay damages to the company. However, Levess was not discouraged by the failure. He traveled to the United States where he met a battery manufacturer. Charles Gould, whom he persuaded to transport many batteries across the ocean, each weighing 1,75 tons, were supposed to power electric buses in London.
It took eight hours to fully load these huge (in size and weight) energy reserves. However, Gould's engineers came up with a rather innovative, if not modern, way to replace used batteries with charged ones. They were placed under the floor of the car. The bus drove up to the transfer point, the workers removed the battery, put another of the charged ones, and the car moved on. The whole operation lasted three minutes.
Electric bus in London
Some observers may have noticed that we wrote that Levess "persuaded" Gould to move the batteries, not that he bought them from the American. After not receiving payment, after two years, the New York entrepreneur realized that he was a scammer.
In the meantime, Gould's electric buses have gone on their London tours, which have convinced residents and investors again that it's really about improving public transport. Levess and Beal in the years 1907-1909 again acquired almost 100 XNUMX pieces. pounds sterling from the profits of encouraging shareholders.
On January 3, 1910, as every day, Londoners approached the electric bus stop at Victoria Station. However, the car did not arrive. The Levess and Beal company no longer existed. It was a blow not only to people who lost their money invested in stocks, but to the whole idea of electric vehicles in general. It must be remembered that at that time the whole world was watching what was happening in London, including in terms of technology. And imitated. And since London has moved away from electromobilization, the whole world has ceased to be interested in it.
Electric Solaris Urbino
A century wiser
A century has passed, and the cities suffocated in exhaust fumes and noise. However, car parks are again leaving the streets of many agglomerations of the world electric, ecological buses. Innovative designs like Proterra, which we feature in this issue of MT, are breaking new range records. Car manufacturers have said they will phase out internal combustion engines in the coming years, or at least those that rely solely on burning petroleum products. Some countries, such as Norway, France, the United Kingdom, announce the end of sales of gasoline and diesel fuel by 2040.
So maybe this time it will work...?
