1. Historical Perspective
   1. Ever since 1837, when electric traction was first demonstrated by Robert Davidson in Aberdeen, Scotland.
   2. It has been the ambition of enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists, as well as government agencies and industrial organizations, to develop an effective electric road vehicle
   3. Initially, interest in the battery-powered electric vehicle (EV) stemmed from a natural human desire to outpace and outdistance the horse-drawn carriage
   4. In more recent times, well after the internal-combustion engined vehicle (ICEV) had established its supremacy in road transportation, concern over both increasing atmospheric pollution and diminishing petroleum supplies has led to renewed activity in EV development
   5. A further twenty or so years were to pass, however, before steady improvements in both system design and manufacturing method enabled lead/acid batteries to be produced on a commercial scale.
   6. A short time later, the rechargeable alkaline systems of nickel/cadmium and nickel/iron also entered the market-place.
   7. By 1912, several hundred thousand electric cars and trucks were in service throughout the world as city cars, taxicabs, delivery vans, trams, and buses.
   8. A ten-fold increase in world oil-production between 1890 and 1920, the invention of the ICEV self-starter by Charles F. Kettering in 1911
   9. By the end of the First World War, the emphasis in electric traction had shifted to the direct use of mains power in public transportation networks, i.e., in trains, trams, and trolley buses.
   10. Thus, replenishing the fuel tank of an ICEV is accomplished in a matter of a few minutes, but recharging the battery of an EV in the home takes hours.
   11. But still there continued the quest for a road EV - one that would prove traffic-compatible with its ICEV counterpart.
   12. A revival of interest in the electric passenger car occurred both during the Second World War and during the immediate post-war years of petrol rationing in Europe and Japan. Vehicles were marketed widely and included the registration of more than 3000 EVs during 1943 in Japan alone.
   13. The EVs of the 1940s did not, however, have high performance: they had a range of 50-60 km and a maximum speed of 30-35 km h-l.
   14. A number of different hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) concepts have been investigated. When one of the power sources is a 'battery, there is a choice between three basic configurations:
       1. (i) an all-electric hybrid
       2. a series heat-engine-battery hybrid
       3. a parallel heat-engine-battery hybrid
   15. Many electric cars have been designed and constructed in low numbers, but no production line has operated successfully for more than a short while. The major impediment to progress remains the restricted performance of the battery.
2. Six main categories of battery powered industrial truck used in material handling
   1. Pallet: Long flat arms run through the pallet on small front wheels. Although usually pedestrian-controlled, it is becoming increasingly designed for rider operation. Models are offered with load capacities of up to 3 t.
   2. Platform: The fixed type of truck is normally rider­controlled. The elevated version runs under stillages and raises the load for transport; it can be either rider- or pedestrian-controlled. Loads of up to 20 t can be carried. Most models are adapted for special customer requirements
   3. Straddle/stacker: The centre of gravity of the load falls within the truck's wheelbase. Outrigger arms on the front of the truck run on small wheels to 'straddle' the load or pass under the racking. The truck can be either rider- or pedestrian-controlled.
   4. Fork-lift: In the counterbalanced type, the load (typically up to 5 t) is carried forward of the front wheels and is balanced by the truck and battery weight. In the reach type, the fork carriage and/or mast extends beyond the front wheels to pick up the load and then retracts within the wheelbase for travel. This design results in a compact and highly manoeuvrable vehicle, well able to do high-lift work in narrow aisles. The side loader is a variety of reach truck in which the forks are mounted at right-angles to the direction of travel and thereby allow handling of long loads in confined spaces.
   5. Order picker: The operator controls the lift and travel from a cage that can be elevated. This allows fast, safe, efficient, mixed-order selection along narrow passages in high­density warehouses
   6. Turret truck This is a compact, versatile truck with 180°-rotating, side-shift forks for high stacking of loads on either side of a narrow aisle. The width of the latter is dictated by the size of the load. Lift heights of up to 13 m are possible. The vehicle is always rider-controlled and is available with load capacities of up to 2 t.
3. Battery driven vehicles have found use in: (i) plant operations, e.g., fork-lift trucks for materials handling; (ii) track services, e.g., locomotives for minerals haulage; (iii) recreational pursuits, e.g., golf carts; (iv) transportation for disabled persons and medical supplies, e.g., wheelchairs; (v) airport ground-support operations, e.g., aircraft push-out tractors; (vi) personnel and baggage carrying services, e.g., in hotel complexes, railway stations.
4. Three basic classes of electric traction applied to public transportation system.
   1. mains only: these vehicles have no on-board energy-storage facility and are totally dependent for their power supply on fixed overhead catenary, sub-surface conduit, or surface contact systems that extend the full length of any route, e.g., the classic trolley bus;
   2. hybrid: such vehicles depend on power from a limited on-board energy-storage unit (e.g., battery, ICE or flywheel) together with an external supply from overhead wires, a third rail, or other forms of pick-up; operation with the external supply would be limited to the most heavily used transit corridors, a switch to battery power' would enable negotiation of complicated junctions and provide suburban road-loop services
   3. battery only: power to this class of vehicle is provided by a pack of batteries which, when exhausted, can either be recharged or replaced by a fresh (charged) set; pure-battery buses eliminate the need for the costly and aesthetically displeasing electricity-supply infrastructure which is required by mains vehicles and, at the same time, increase vehicle manoeuvrability.