Motive Power

I began my career with Chloride Technical in England in 1980 as a test driver for electric buses and have been here ever since, although the company has seen lots of changes since then. In 1985, I was transferred to the USA to look after the 'Griffon' electric vehicle project. The Griffon was actually a Bedford CF vehicle (GM - UK division) which was badged as the Griffon and imported for the US market. *View Griffon PDF file here* This vehicle was very successful in the UK with about 200 vehicles in daily service. The sister vehicle to the Bedford CF in the UK was the Freight Rover 'Sherpa' and again, this was a very successful project. *View Sherpa PDF file here* Both vehicles had a drive train consisting of a Lucas Chloride Mk. IV dc controller, a Lucas MT305 dc drive motor and a Chloride 216 volt battery utilizing 36 x 3ET205, 6 volt monoblocs and complete with a single point watering system. Payload of these vehicles was 2000 lbs and the driving range was about 60 miles before a recharge of the batteries was necessary.

I have remained here in the US and been involved in many electric vehicle projects as a follow on to the Griffon program:

	*General Motors - electric 'G-Van' - DC drive system, 216 volts.*
	*Specialty Vehicles (SVMC) - 22 seat electric bus - DC drive system, 216 volts.*
	Advanced Vehicle Systems (AVS) - 22 seat electric bus - DC drive system, 216 volts. AVS has gone on to manufacture larger buses with an AC drive system, 320 volts and also hybrid buses using the Capstone Turbine to provide additional power and range.
	*Ebus - successor to SVMC, manufacturing electric buses with AC drive systems, 320 volts.*
	*Transteq LLC - manufacture large, articulated, low floor, electric buses.*

All of the above programs have been successful due to the use of either Fulmen, flooded tubular, lead-acid batteries or the Sonnenschein, maintenance free Dryfit Traction Blocks. An electric vehicle application is extremely demanding and the batteries have to be able to tolerate daily, deep discharges as well as be able to provide dependable, long cycle life. The Fulmen and Sonnenschein batteries have been proven, time and again, that they are more than capable of this.