Re: Indigenous Oddities - Oddball Automobiles of India This one off car/oddity deserves a mention so posting here. Electric car by George Trotter Source Quote:
Trotter Electric Car
This car was designed and built by George Trotter out of old aircraft parts at an airfield near Dacca, India (now known as Dhaka, Bangladesh) during World War II.
| Quote: My Electric Car : By George Trotter
I was an aircraft electrical specialist at the time and we were very short of transportation, We had only one Jeep for the whole electric shop and some 50 revetments scattered along 15 miles of taxi strip for protection against enemy attack. We were expected to haul all the needed parts, along with the technicians and auxiliary power supply, to these revetments where we made the necessary repairs on planes. Being a “smart-alec,” I set out to find a solution to the problem and came up with the idea for this car.
This car was made from a discarded gas tank that was split down the seam and set apart 18 inches by a strip of wing metal. The wheels are small wrecked plane wheels, the fenders are tail skids from B-25s.
The power source was a 24-volt auxiliary power plant (the same as we had been hauling back and forth in the Jeep to furnish power needed for repairs).
This power plant kept two 24-volt aircraft batteries charged and the batteries in turn, furnished power to drive the car and its accessories which included electric brakes, lights, horn and self-starter. Its two speeds forward was accomplished by building a switch that could put the two electric driving motors either in parallel or in series. Reverse was acquired by simply reversing the flow of current in the field windings.
This was done by another switch. Both of these switches were operated by solenoids and controlled by switches which were handy to the driver. The accelerator and brake control was, of course, on the floor in the normal positions, while the other switches were on the dash board and marked for the benefit of unfamiliar
drivers.
The driving motors were two discarded 24-volt starters with part of their reduction gear removed to give a more desirable gear ratio.
These were connected by direct drive shaft to each of the back wheels making a differential unnecessary.
These motors were originally made to be used intermittently and normally would have overheated, if used continuously. By drilling a system of holes to channel cooling air through the aluminum housing and by rigging a blower from an aircraft heater to force air through them, I was able to run indefinitely without overheating.
As for performance, this car cruised at 35 to 45 miles per hour with the driving motors in series. At this speed, one could flip the switch that puts the motors in parallel and get the thrill of a drag racer. I never had the nerve to find out what the top speed was, but it could pass a Jeep doing 65 with plenty to spare.
Needless to say, this car was a great help to our transportation problem.
It not only got us there, but it also furnished necessary power from its built-in power plant.
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Last edited by KartikeyaL : 8th May 2021 at 12:23.
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