Our Friends Electric

Or, to be accurate, Our “Friends” Electric, the actual title¹. Continuing the themes of hit singles and Motor Transport, there was a picture in last week’s Motor Transport of a line up of PSVs and carts, all powered by batteries. Interestingly, it was taken in 1914. Electric power was seen by some at the time as a more reliable source of energy than the petrol engine, even though the range was limited.

No change there, then. Except that today’s electric buses aren’t necessarily totally reliable, either. 92 years on and aside perhaps from Italy, Merseyside’s the place for such beasts, with its small fleets on Tecnobus Gullivers on the Wirral and Pantheons in St Helen’s. The tri-axle Pantheons have proven themselves quite well and achieve good acceleration, even if the chassis alignment, now rectified, was a bit off at the outset. Those in Birkenhead have had a somewhat on-off-on-the-road chequered career but nonetheless have proved useful in their conveyor belt role around Birkenhead. The Merseyside 2005 delivery of battery hybrid Enoco Solos have yet to prove themselves properly, but it’s fair to use the phrase “technical difficulties”.

“Dad, there’s a man from the electricity company at the door.”
“Has he got a bill?”
“No, he has a nose like everyone else.”
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¹ by Gary Numan, he who sang "It's the only way to live... in cars"