Nikola Tesla Pierce Arrow Car.

The Electric Auto that almost triumphed
Power Source of '31 car still a mystery
by A.C. Greene

Not long ago, Texas Sketches told the story of Henry "Dad" Garrett and his son
C.H.'s water-fueled automobile, which was successfully demonstrated in 1935 at
White Rock Lake in Dallas.

Eugene Langkop of Dallas (a Packard lover, like so many of us) notes that the
"wonder car" of the future may be a resurrection of the electric car. It uses no
gasoline, no oil - just some grease fittings - has no radiator to fill or freeze, no
carburetor problems, no muffler to replace and gives off no pollutants.
Famous former electrics include Columbia, Rauch & Lang and Detroit Electric.
Dallas had electric delivery trucks in the 1920s and 30s. Many electric delivery
vehicles were used in big cities into the 1960s.

The problem with electrics was slow speed and short range.

Within the past decade two Richardson men, George Thiess and Jack Hooker,
claimed to have used batteries operating on magnesium from seawater to increase
the range of their electric automobile from 100 miles to 400 or 500 miles.
But it is a mystery car once demonstrated by Nikola Tesla, developer of alternating
current, that might have made electrics triumphant.

that has ever lived. His accomplishments dwarfed even Thomas Edison's! Whereas
Mr. Edison was a great experimenter, Mr. Tesla was a great theoretician. Nikola
Tesla became frustrated and very much annoyed at the procedures Edison followed.
Tesla would rather calculate the possibility of something working (i.e. mathematical
investigation) than the hit and miss technique of constant experimentation. So in the
heat of an argument, he quit one day and stormed out of Edison's laboratory in
West Orange, New Jersey.

Working on his own, Tesla conceived and built the first working alternating current
generator. He, and he alone, is responsible for all of the advantages we enjoy today
because of A.C. electric power.

Angered by Edison, Tesla sold his new patents to George Westinghouse for 15
million dollars in the very early 1900's. Tesla became totally independent and
proceeded to carry on his investigative research in his laboratory on 5th Avenue in
New York City.

George Westinghouse began to market this new system of electric generators and
was in competition with Edison. Westinghouse prevailed because of the greater
superiority of the A.C. generators over the less efficient D.C. power supplies of
Thomas Edison. Today, A.C. power is the only source of electricity the world uses.
And, please remember, Nikola Tesla is the man who developed it.

Now specifically dealing with automobiles in the infant days of their development,
electric propulsion was considered and used. An electric powered automobile
possessed many advantages that the noisy, cantankerous, smoke-belching gasoline
cars could not offer.

First and foremost is the absolute silence one experiences when riding in an
electrically powered vehicle. There is not even a hint of noise. One simply turns a
key and steps on the accelerator - the vehicle moves instantly! No cranking from the
start, no crank to turn (this was before electric starters), no pumping of the
accelerator, no spark control to advance and no throttle linkage to pre-set before
starting. One simply turned the ignition switch to on!

Second, is a sense of power. If one wants to increase speed, you simply depress the
accelerator further - there is never any hesitation. Releasing the accelerator causes
the vehicle to slow down immediately - you are always in complete control. It is not
difficult to understand why these vehicles were so very popular around the turn of
the century and until 1912 or so.

The big disadvantage to these cars was their range and need for re-charging every
single night. All of these electric vehicles used a series of batteries and a D.C. motor
to move itself about. The batteries require recharging every night and the range of
travel was restricted to about 100 miles. Understand that this restriction was not a
serious one in the early part of this century. Doctors began making house calls with
electric cars (do you remember doctors making house calls?) because he no longer
needed to tend to the horse at night time - just plug the car into an electric socket!
No feeding, no rub-down and no mess to clean up!

Many of the large department stores in metropolitan areas began purchasing
delivery trucks that were electrically powered. They were silent and emitted no
pollutants. And, maintenance was a minimum on electrically powered vehicles.
There were few mechanics and garages in operation in the early 1900's. So city life
and travel appeared to be willing to embrace the electric automobile. Remember,
these masterfully built vehicles all ran on D.C. current.

Two things happened to dampen the popularity of the electric automobile. One was
the subconscious craving for speed that gripped all auto enthusisasts of this era.
Each manufacturer was eager to show how far his car could travel (i.e. the
transcontinental races) and what was its top speed!

Col. Vanderbilt constructed the first all concrete race track in Long Island and
racing became the passion for the well-to-do. Newspapers constantly record new
records of speed achieved by so-in-so. And, of course, the automobile manufacturers
were quick to capitalize on the advertising effect of these new peaks of speed. Both
of these events made the electrically powered vehicles appear to only belong to the
"little old lady" down the street or the old retired gentleman who talked about the
"good old days".

Electric vehicles could not reach speeds of 45 or 50 m.p.h. for this would have
destroyed the batteries in moments. Bursts of speeds of 25 to 35 m.p.h. could be
maintained for a moment or so. Normal driving speed-depending upon traffic
conditions, was 15 to 20 m.p.h. by 1900 to 1910 standards, this was an acceptable
speed limit to obtain from your electric vehicle.

Please note that none of the manufacturers of electric cars ever installed a D.C.
generator. This would have put a small charge back into the batteries as the car
moved about and would have thereby increased its operating range. This was
considered by some to be approaching perpetual motion - and that, of course, was
utterly impossible! Actually, D.C. generators would have worked and helped the
electric car cause.

As mentioned earlier, Mr. Westinghouse's A.C. current generating equipment was
being sold and installed about the country. The earlier D.C. equipment was being
retired and disregarded. As a side note, Consolidated Edison Power Company of
New York City still has one of Thomas Edison's D.C. generators installed in its 14th
St. powerhouse - it still works! About this time, another giant corporation was
formed and entered the A.C. generating equipment field - General Electric. This
spelled the absolute end for Edison's D.C. power supply systems as a commercial
means of generating and distributing electric power.

The electric automobile could not be adapted to accomodate and utilize a polyphase
motor (i.e. A.C. power). Since they used batteries as a source of power, their
extinction was sealed. No battery can put out an A.C. signal. True, a converter could
be utilized (i.e. convert the D.C. signal from the battery to an A.C. signal), but the
size of the equipment at this time was too large to fit in an automobile - even one
with the generous dimensions of this era.

So, somewhere around 1915 or so, the electric automobile became a memory. True,
United Parcel Service still utilizes several electric trucks in New York City today but
the bulk of their fleet of vehicles utilizes gasoline or diesel fuel. For all intensive
purposes, the electrically powered automobile is dead - they are considered
dinosaurs of the past.

But, let us stop a moment and consider the advantages of utilizing electric power as
a means of propelling vehicles. Maintenance is absolutely minimal for the only oil
required is for the two bearings in the motor and the necessary grease fittings.
There is no oil to change, no radiator to clean and fill, no transmission to foul up, no
fuel pump, no water pump, no carburetion problems, no muffler to rot out or
replace and no pollutants emitted into the atmosphere. It appears as though it might
be the answer we have been searching for!

Therefore, the two problems facing us become top speed and range of driving -
providing, of course, the A.C. and D.C. problems could be worked out. With today's
technology this does not seem to be insurmountable. In fact, the entire problem has
already been solved - in the past, the distant past and the not so distant! Stop! Reread
the last sentence again. Ponder it for a few moments before going on.

Several times earlier in this article, I mentioned the man, Nikola Tesla and stated
that he was the greatest mind that ever lived. The U.S. Patent Office has 1,200
patents registered in the name of Nikola Tesla and it is estimated that he could have
patented an additional 1,000 or so from memory!

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But, back to our electric automobiles - in 1931, under the financing of Pierce-Arrow
and George Westinghouse, a 1931 Pierce-Arrow was selected to be tested at the
factory grounds in Buffalo, N.Y. The standard internal combustion engine was
removed and an 80-H.P. 1800 r.p.m electric motor installed to the clutch and
transmission. The A.C. motor measured 40 inches long and 30 inches in diameter
and the power leads were left standing in the air - no external power source!
At the appointed time, Nikola Tesla arrived from New York City and inspected the
Pierce-Arrow automobile. He then went to a local radio store and purchased a
handful of tubes (12), wires and assorted resistors. A box measuring 24 inches long,
12 inches wide and 6 inches high was assembled housing the circuit. The box was
placed on the front seat and had its wires connected to the air-cooled, brushless
motor. Two rods 1/4" in diameter stuck out of the box about 3" in length.
Mr. Tesla got into the driver's seat, pushed the two rods in and stated, "We now
have power". He put the car into gear and it moved forward! This vehicle, powered
by an A.C. motor, was driven to speeds of 90 m.p.h. and performed better than any
internal combustion engine of its day! One week was spent testing the vehicle.
Several newspapers in Buffalo reported this test. When asked where the power
came from, Tesla replied, "From the ethers all around us". Several people suggested
that Tesla was mad and somehow in league with sinister forces of the universe. He
became incensed, removed his mysterious box from the vehicle and returned to his
laboratory in New York City. His secret died with him!
It is speculated that Nikola Tesla was able to somehow harness the earth's magnetic
field that encompasses our planet. And, he somehow was able to draw tremendous
amounts of power by cutting these lines of force or causing them to be multiplied
together. The exact nature of his device remains a mystery but it did actually
function by powering the 80 h.p. A.C. motor in the Pierce-Arrow at speeds up to 90
m.p.h. and no recharging was ever necessary!

In 1969, Joseph R. Zubris took his 1961 Mercury and pulled out the Detroit internal
combustion engine. He then installed an electric motor as a source of power. His
unique wiring system cuts the energy drain at starting to 75% of normal and
doubles the electrical efficiency of the electric motor when it is operating! The U.S.
Patent Office issued him a patent No. 3,809,978. Although he approached many
concerns for marketing, no one really seemed to be interested. And, his unique
system is still not on the market.

In the 1970's, an inventor used an Ev-Gray generator, which intensified battery
current, the voltage being induced to the field coils by a simple programmer
(sequencer). By allowing the motor to charge separate batteries as the device ran,
phenomenally tiny currents were needed. The device was tested at the Crosby
Research Institute of Beverly Hills, Ca., a 10-horepower EMA motor ran for over a
week (9 days) on four standard automobile batteries.

The inventors estimated that a 50-horsepower electric motor could traverse 300
miles at 50 m.p.h. before needing a re-charge. Dr. Keith E. Kenyon, the inventor of
Van Nuys, California discovered a discrepancy in the normal and long accepted
laws relating to electric motor magnets. Dr. Kenyon demonstrated his invention for
many scientists and engineers in 1976 but their reaction was astounding. Although
admitting Dr. Kenyon's device worked, they saw little or no practical application for
it!

So the ultimate source for our electrically powered automobile would be to have an
electric motor that required no outside source of power. Sounds impossible because
it violates all scientific thought! But it has been invented and H.R. Johnson has been
issued a patent No. 4,151,431 on April 24, 1979 on such a device!

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