Writer 1879: Solitary Journey in France

Chapter 631 New National Standards! (Seeking monthly votes)

The last week of January 1884 was unusually sunny in Paris.

The light rain a few days ago washed the streets clean, and the air smelled of the Seine. It was much better than the gray sky before.

Lionel sat in the carriage and looked out through the curtains.

The suburbs of San Antonio remain unchanged. The streets are lined with small workshops, and the clanging of blacksmiths echoes from morning till night.

The road was full of handcarts and porters, and occasionally a horse-drawn carriage would pass by, and the driver would have to shout "Make way, make way, make way!"

Sophie sat opposite him, wearing a dark blue wool coat and a woven scarf she had brought back from Constantinople.

She asked curiously, "What exactly did Armand invent? The letter was written so mysteriously, just saying 'four wheels, powered by electricity, and it runs quite fast.'"

As Lionel's "chief steward" in business, she felt it was necessary for her to know the technical details of every new invention so that she could negotiate with people effectively.

Lionel smiled. "At the last electricity expo, he was staring at Gustav Truff's three-wheeled electric vehicle. I knew he'd get involved in this sooner or later."

"Didn't you say that electric cars have no future?"

"In the long run, the internal combustion engine is definitely the future. But since Armand has already made it, we should at least take a look."

The carriage soon came to a stop in front of an iron gate. A sign hung beside the gate that read "Sorel-Peugeot Mechanical Manufacturing Plant".

The old doorman recognized Lionel and quickly opened the door.

The yard is twice the size it was two years ago. The old factory buildings on the left are still there, but a new row of workshops has been added on the right, with black smoke billowing from the chimneys.

Several workers pushed a handcart past, which was loaded with freshly stamped bicycle frames.

Armand Peugeot burst out of the main factory building, wearing canvas overalls with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hands covered in engine oil.

"Leon! Miss Sophie!" He ran to the carriage and grabbed Leonard's hand. "You've finally arrived!"

Lionel alighted from the carriage and glanced at him: "What's that in your hand? Another new invention?"

Armand grinned: "Yes! Four wheels! Let me tell you, it's much more stable than a three-wheeler!"

Sophie also got off the carriage: "Mr. Peugeot, your letter was too brief. We've been guessing the whole way."

"Don't guess, just look!" Armand turned and walked into the factory. "I've set aside a room here specifically for it."

Three people walked through the workshop.

Workers are assembling bicycles. The assembly line process has become quite mature after more than a year of improvements.

Although we can't yet achieve the goal of one person tightening only one screw, we can already have similar procedures performed by the same person, and once it's installed, it's handed over to the next person.

The steam engine drove the conveyor belt, making a creaking sound as it turned, and the efficiency was indeed much higher.

Thanks to this basic "assembly line" system, Sorel-Peugeot bicycles are not afraid of competition from any similar products on the market.

At the far end of the factory building was a separate workshop. Armand pushed open the door and stepped aside to let him in: "Please come in!"

Upon entering the room, Lionel saw the "electric car"—it was parked in the center of the area, like an iron cage lying on the ground.

This thing looks like two bicycles welded together horizontally, but it's not exactly the same.

The carriage was very low, almost half the height of a regular horse-drawn carriage; it had no carriage or roof, just a bunch of steel pipes welded together haphazardly to form a frame.

The shelves were crammed with things—most notably, under the seats and under the floor, there were more than twenty glass trays neatly arranged.

The tanks were transparent, filled with lead plates, through which a pale yellow liquid could be seen; the tanks were connected by copper plates.

Sophie took a step closer and looked down at the glass tanks: "These are... batteries?"

“Yes!” Armand patted the nearest glass tank. “Lead-acid batteries, rechargeable. One is two volts, twenty-four in series, forty-eight volts!”

Lionel walked around the car.

At the rear half of the car, directly above the rear axle, sits a large brass cylinder, about the size of a small wine barrel, with rings of heat dissipation fins on its surface.

Lionel asked, "Is this an electric motor?"

“Nikola designed it for me!” Armand’s tone was full of pride. “It’s much better than the Bitruf one! Not only is it a third lighter, but it has twenty percent more horsepower!”

The electric motor is connected to two thick bicycle chains, which rest directly on the sprocket of the rear wheel; the chains are exposed and coated with a thick layer of grease.

All four wheels have spokes woven from thin steel wire, the rims are polished brass, and the tires are dark and hard to the touch.

Lionel crouched down and squeezed the tire: "Is it made of solid rubber?"

"Yes. This car is too heavy, weighing a full 800 kilograms. The inflatable tires can't withstand it; they burst as soon as they hit a small stone."

Lionel straightened up, looked at the pile of exposed machinery, and suddenly smelled a faint sour odor.

Sophie smelled it too, and covered her nose with a handkerchief: "What's that smell?"

"The smell of batteries." Armand didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all. "It's sulfuric acid, so some will always evaporate. But with good ventilation, you can't really smell it."

He walked to the front of the car, pointed to the seats, and said, "Come on in and give it a try!"

The driver's seat was a leather cushion, like a saddle, placed in the middle of the front of the car; in front of the cushion was a long brass rod, inserted vertically in front of the seat.

Armand sat down and gripped the lever with both hands: "This is called the rudder, just like a ship's rudder. If you push it to the left, the car turns left; if you push it to the right, the car turns right."

"It only takes a little effort; it's much more responsive than the reins of a carriage!"

There were several levers at his feet and hands, one on his left, one on his right, and one under his feet.

Armand explained in detail: "The left hand controls the left front brake, the right hand controls the right front brake, and the foot controls the rear brake. When braking suddenly, you need to use both hands and feet together."

Behind the rudder is a brass gauge, and next to the gauge stands a brass knife switch with the blade completely exposed.

Armand pointed to the switch: "Only when this is closed can the battery be powered, and only then can the car move forward. The instrument panel can display the voltage."

The back seat was just a wooden chair, so rough it looked like it had just been taken off a third-class seat on a train; there were no doors, only a few leather straps tied to the side.

Armand turned around and patted the wooden chair: "It can seat three people. I'll sit in the front and drive, and two more can sit in the back. But you have to hold on tight when you turn."

Lionel thought for a moment and said to Sophie, "You'd better not go yet, I'll try first."

Sophie nodded: "Be careful." Then she took two steps back. Lionel climbed onto the car using the steel pipes and sat in the back seat.

Armand glanced back at him and said, "Hold on tight!" Then he pulled the lever.

With a "snap," a blue-white spark jumped across the blade, emitting a burnt smell, and the pointer of the brass gauge on the dashboard jumped up sharply.

At this moment, the electric motor emitted a low humming sound, the chain clicked, the vehicle shook slightly, and began to move forward.

Lionel grabbed the belt quickly, feeling more nervous than when trying any new invention.

Soon, Armand Peugeot drove the car out of the factory, across the yard, and onto the street through the gate.

The streets in the suburbs of San Antonio are full of potholes, paved with rough cinders and gravel, and the cracks are filled with mud.

The solid tires rolled over potholes, and the thumping vibrations were transmitted directly to the seat, making Lionel's buttocks go numb very quickly.

In another world's memory, Lionel had the experience of riding a rural hand-operated tractor, but the current experience was even worse than that.

Because there is no windshield, the wind blows directly into your face, and you have to squint if the car is going even slightly faster.

Lionel turned his head to avoid the wind and saw pedestrians on the roadside stop and stare at the strange car.

Armand turned around and shouted, "How about that?" Although his voice was carried away by the wind, Lionel could still hear the smugness in his voice. The question did not need an answer.

The carriage was moving faster and faster, and the houses along the roadside were receding much faster than the carriage itself.

Lionel saw a young man on a bicycle pedaling hard on the side of the road, but he was quickly left behind.

That speed is at least 25 kilometers per hour!

You should know that public carriages in Paris can only travel a maximum of twelve or thirteen kilometers; private carriages are a bit faster, but even the best horses and carriages can only go a little over twenty kilometers.

Twenty-five kilometers is considered incredibly fast in this day and age!
But speed comes at a price—the vibrations of every stone slab on the road are clearly transmitted to the seat, vibrating all the way down the spine to the back of the head.

Lionel felt his internal organs shaking, and his brain was about to be shaken to pieces.

The acidic smell of batteries wafted towards his nose, along with the stench of the electric motor and the greasy smell of the grease on the chain after it heated up...

The combination of these three smells is incredibly pungent and irritating; the wind can't dissipate it, and if you sit for too long, you'll definitely feel like throwing up.

But this car has one advantage over later "electric cars": it's quiet!

There was no sound of horses' hooves, no shouts of coachmen, no harsh noise of iron wheels rolling over stone slabs...

The only sounds were the low hum of the electric motor, the clattering of the chain, and the muffled screech of the rubber tires.

After Lionel got used to the vibrations, he began to observe how to handle the car.

Armand sat in the front, his hands gripping the rudder tightly, and when they turned, he leaned to one side.

When you encounter a pothole, swerve slightly to let the wheels go around it; when you encounter a pedestrian, pull the brake lever and the speed will immediately slow down.

Lionel guessed that the reason it was so difficult was because the various devices lacked hydraulic assistance, so it required the strength of the whole body to operate them.

After walking for about ten minutes, Lionel patted Armand on the shoulder: "Can you tell me about the battery life?"

Armand turned his head: "Battery life?"

"It's about how far it can run on a single charge."

"Forty kilometers!" Armand shouted. "At this speed, it would take more than an hour!"

Lionel was quite shocked—forty kilometers is almost the distance from Paris to Fontainebleau.

If you're just driving around the city, picking up and dropping off people, and delivering goods, it's more than enough!
But after another ten minutes, Lionel couldn't take it anymore.

His buttocks started to hurt, and his back began to ache, since the broken chair offered no support and he had to rely entirely on his back for support.

He quickly shouted, "Stop!"

Armand glanced back at him, pulled the brake lever, and the car gradually slowed down until it came to a stop.

"what happened?"

“I need to go for a walk.” Lionel gripped his belt and stood up, his legs a little weak. “Who designed this chair?”

Armand said a little embarrassedly, "It's just for myself. I'll use it casually for now, and then I can modify it later. I can stuff it with cotton, cover it with leather, and make it like a sofa."

Lionel jumped out of the car and stomped his foot on the ground: "The first thing we'll improve is definitely this broken chair!" Armand also got out of the car and walked over to Lionel: "Should we turn back?"

Lionel looked around and realized they had driven to the vicinity of Belleville, where the streets were narrower and there were more people.

He thought for a moment and said, "Let's go back. But is it easy for your car to turn around?"

Armand scratched his head, looked at the road ahead, then at the road behind: "Uh... not very convenient."

"How exactly is it inconvenient?"

"Come up here, I'll show you."

Lionel climbed back into the car, Armand sat back in the driver's seat, turned on the ignition, then gripped the steering wheel tightly, took a deep breath, and pulled it into his arms.

The vehicle jolted, and the front wheels began to veer to the left, but the entire vehicle was too heavy—a full 800 kilograms, plus the two people, it weighed almost a ton.

The tires screeched and squeaked on the cinder road, the solid rubber emitting a burnt smell, and the front of the car slid to the left like a crab, the whole car body tilting at a forty-five-degree angle.

At that moment, Armand Peugeot gritted his teeth and pulled hard on the steering wheel, and with his efforts, the car veered slightly to the right.

But even after reaching the shoulder, the car still hadn't completely turned.

He could only release the rudder, open the brake to stop the motor, then jump off the vehicle and run to the back.

"Leon, come down and help!"

Lionel got out of the car and walked to the back. There, on either side, were brass handrails that he could grab onto.

Lionel stared in disbelief: "...No...no reversing?"

Armand Peugeot was baffled: "What, reversing?"

Lionel knew he couldn't explain it clearly in a short time, so he and Peugeot held the handrails on either side and pushed the car backward with all their might.

The 800-kilogram vehicle creaked and groaned a few times before finally moving back a little.

Armand ran back to the driver's seat, pulled the brake lever, and continued to turn the steering wheel all the way to the right. The car slid forward half a meter and then stopped.

He jumped out of the car again and, together with Lionel, gave it another push...

It took three attempts to turn the car around 180 degrees.

Armand and Lionel were drenched in sweat, their backs soaked through.

Exhausted, Lionel climbed into the back seat and waved his hand listlessly: "Let's go."

On the way back, he kept thinking about the car.

It's fast enough, has enough battery life, and is quiet. Although it has a smell, as long as proper shielding measures are taken, it's definitely much better than horse manure.

The problem is that it's too bumpy, too difficult to drive, and too difficult to turn around. Plus, there's no windshield, so you have to squint when the wind blows.

Solid tires transmit every vibration to the seat, making sitting for twenty minutes feel like sitting for two hundred years.

But then again, this thing can actually run.

With a speed of 25 kilometers per hour and a range of 40 kilometers, this vehicle can take more than half an hour for people living in the suburbs to travel to the city by horse-drawn carriage.

Lionel watched Armand's retreating figure as he drove intently, his shoulders swaying with the undulations of the road.

This person really loves machines.

From pepper grinders to bicycles and typewriters, and from bicycles and typewriters to electric cars, his enthusiasm for "new machines" even surpassed that for Tesla.

The car was driven back to the factory. Armand flipped the switch, and with another snap, a blue-white spark jumped, and the hum of the electric motor slowly stopped.

He turned to look at Lionel, his eyes full of anticipation: "What do you think of this car? Is there any prospect of mass production?"

Lionel climbed out of the back seat, stretched his back, circled the car twice, and silently calculated in his mind:

Heavy lead-acid batteries, a top speed of 25 kilometers per hour, the entire vehicle is made of flame-retardant metal, there is no windshield, and it is driven by an electric motor...

Why do these data and features seem vaguely familiar?
Lionel shuddered, immediately banishing the unpleasant thought from his mind, and nodded repeatedly: "Much more practical than I imagined!"

He wasn't lying; the electric car's performance and range far exceeded his expectations.

Lionel doesn't actually know much about the history of automobiles, but he doesn't quite believe that a car that doesn't even exist yet can be better than this electric car in its early stages.

The historical opportunity presented by internal combustion engines and automobiles should not be missed, but before that, electric vehicles can be used as a transition and a means to accumulate technological patents.

Armand Peugeot was overjoyed: "Really?"

Lionel patted the car body: "Of course! However, to make this car 'easy to drive' now, we first need a completely new steering system."

Armand blinked: "Steering mechanism?"

Lionel walked to the front of the car and tugged at the brass steering wheel: "Yes, the steering wheel is really too much of a strain. With a car weighing 800 kilograms, you have to pull it with your arms. Turning is like fighting a war."

A reversing system is also a must; this car needs to be able to drive backwards, otherwise turning it around will be exhausting!

Armand Peugeot nodded thoughtfully: "Reversing is easy, just modify the transmission. But how should the steering wheel be modified?"

Lionel thought for a moment: "Why not make a round 'steering wheel' like a ship's rudder? One person can control the direction of a giant ship weighing thousands of tons."

Armand's eyes lit up: "A ship's rudder? Yes, why not make it like a ship's rudder? And then combine it with gears and levers... that would save a lot of effort!"

Lionel almost laughed out loud. Armand Peugeot's mind was indeed quick; the mention of a ship's rudder immediately brought to mind gears and levers.

He wasn't sure if later car steering systems actually adopted this design, but trying in that direction was probably the right thing to do.

“You can definitely give it a try. But I don’t know anything about mechanics, so you’ll have to discuss the specifics with Nikola and the others.”

Armand Peugeot stared at the steering wheel, his mind already racing, muttering to himself, "Steering wheel... gears... levers..."

Sophie gently tugged at Lionel's sleeve and whispered, "What's wrong with him?"

“He’s working on the concept,” Lionel said in a low voice. “Don’t disturb him.”

The two stood quietly for a while.

Armand Peugeot suddenly looked up: "Anything else? Besides reversing and steering, what else needs to be changed?"

Lionel thought for a moment: "Shock absorption. It's not enough for the seats to be like sofas; the key is for the car body itself to have shock absorption. We can adopt the current shock absorption system used for carriages."

Armand Peugeot nodded: "Yes, carriage suspension is already very mature, and their springs can be directly used in our cars."

Lionel pointed to the front of the car: "And the windshield. When we drive fast, the wind blows directly into our faces, and we can't even open our eyes. Could you install a pane of glass?"

Armand Peugeot frowned: "The glass is too fragile and very sharp."

Lionel then realized that there was no such thing as "safety glass" anymore, let alone "tempered glass".

Traditional glass is indeed a hidden killer for drivers and passengers under the current road conditions, and it seems that we have no choice but to give it up.

He clicked his tongue regretfully, then said, "Then the driver will have to be equipped with goggles and a windbreaker. For now, let's use the current horse-drawn carriage system for the passenger compartments."

Armand Peugeot took out a small notebook and wrote down the points one by one.

Lionel continued, "And then there's the brakes. You have three levers now, using your hands and feet, it's so complicated, in an emergency it's like dancing."

Can't we control it using only one foot brake? Can we brake all four wheels at once when I press it? If my foot is strong enough, I can hold it down.

Armand Peugeot looked up: "All four wheels together?"

"Yes. Brake simultaneously in all directions. This shortens the braking distance and makes the braking more stable."

Armand Peugeot scribbled in his notebook.

Lionel thought for a moment and decided that was about it: "That's all for now. You focus on the steering first, that's the most important thing. Once you get that right, the car will be much easier to drive."

Armand Peugeot closed his notebook, looked at Lionel, and said earnestly, "Leon, thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you for not making fun of me. At the last power expo, you said electric vehicles had no future and that I should focus my energy on other things. I thought you would definitely object to me doing this."

Lionel smiled and said, "I'm talking about the long term; the internal combustion engine is the future. But electric cars are perfectly adequate for city driving, picking up people, and delivering goods."

Armand Peugeot's eyes lit up: "So you think it's worth selling?"

"Of course. After it's been modified, we can use it first in our theme park, which will open in two years, to transport tourists; if we make it bigger, it can even replace public horse-drawn carriages."

Once it became widespread, the streets of Paris no longer had to be covered in horse manure.

Armand grinned: "Then I'll get to it right away!"

Lionel patted him on the shoulder: "Tell me when you've fixed it, and I'll try again."

"must!"

The three of them then stepped out of the house, where the sun was shining brightly.

Lionel looked back at the closed door, then looked up at the sky.

That strange-looking car had four wheels, more than twenty glass batteries, and a brass electric motor.

It would make a clicking sound when it ran, emit a sour smell, and make people's butts go numb from the bumps... but without it, there would be no electric cars later on.

Lionel suddenly felt a pang of emotion, realizing he was a little closer to "modern life."

Armand Peugeot walked up to him and followed his gaze, but saw nothing.

"What are you looking at?"

“It’s nothing,” Lionel said, looking away. “It’s just that the world is changing so fast.”

Armand Peugeot didn't understand, but he didn't ask. He was still thinking about the steering mechanism.

Sophie walked over and took Lionel's arm: "The carriage is waiting outside, let's go back?"

Lionel nodded and said to Armand, "By the way, you might need to come to Germany with me in a while."

Armand Peugeot was a little confused: "Germany? What are we going there for?"

Lionel smiled: "Go see a few people—you'll see then."

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(End of this chapter)