Electric battery common fuels such as gasoline. In automobiles, this is somewhat offset by the higher efficiency of electric motors in converting chemical energy to mechanical work, compared to combustion engines. The usage of "battery" to describe a group of electrical devices dates to Benjamin Franklin, who in 1748 described multiple Leyden jars by analogy to a battery of cannon (Benjamin Franklin borrowed the term "battery" from the military, which refers to weapons functioning together). Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built and described the first electrochemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. This was a stack of copper and zinc plates, separated by
Battery electric multiple unit Line from Ellesmere Port to Helsby interchange station and the Northern Line from Ormskirk to Preston interchange station. Vivarail is the first company to manufacture battery electric trains in the UK in the modern era. Their Class 230 is converted from redundant London Underground D-Stock trains and the second demonstrator unit, the two-car 230002, has been fitted for battery power in contrast to the diesel-electric power of the earlier 230001 demonstrator unit. Vivarail claim that a ten-minute charge gives a range of 50 miles. Power is provided by two lithium-ion batteries per car giving four per train, providing 106kWh, with