The lack of commercial success for the electric car might have been avoided had Teslas technology been adopted when we had the chance decades ago. Electrically powered vehicles were very popular around the turn-of-the-century. Many large department stores in metropolitan areas began purchasing delivery trucks that were electrically powered by D.C. current. They were silent and emitted no pollutants. Although the vehicles needed recharging every night and possessed a range of only 100 miles, this was not a problem in the days when cities were small and traffic moved slowly. When consumers became fixated on faster and faster speeds, the slower electrically powered vehicles were abandoned by automobile manufacturers. In 1931, supported by the Pierce-Arrow Company and General Electric, Tesla apparently took out the gasoline engine from a new Pierce-Arrow automobile and replaced it with an 80-horsepower, 1800 rpm alternating-current electric motor with no external power source. At a local radio shop he bought 12 vacuum tubes, some wires and assorted resistors, and assembled them in a small circuit box. Getting into the car with the circuit box in the front seat next to him, he pushed the rods in and announced, We now have power, and proceeded to test drive the car, often at speeds of up to 90 mph. One week was spent testing the vehicle at the Pierce-Arrow factory proving grounds in Buffalo, N.Y. Several newspapers in Buffalo reported on this test. When asked where the power came from, Tesla replied, From the ethers all around us. When some witnesses suggested that Tesla was mad and somehow in league with sinister forces of the universe, he became incensed and removed his mysterious box from the vehicle. Although the exact nature of his device remains a mystery, it is speculated that Nikola Tesla was able to somehow harness the earths magnetic field that encompasses our planet. Despite the mystery, apparently Teslas electrically propelled car did reach speeds of 90 mph, and no recharging was ever necessary!
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:42:02 +0000