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 and Pukekohe. From Britomart the trains will operate on electric overhead wires to Papakura. From Papakura the trains will switch to battery mode for the journey to Pukekohe. Operation is to start in 2019. Battery electric railcars used by British Rail included the British Rail BEMU and British Rail Class 419. The Class 419, operational from 1959 to 2004 could run either on batteries or a third rail being used for short unelectrified section on quaysides. In 2015 a single Class 379 Electrostar, after electric lithium batteries were installed, began passenger operations on the Mayflower Line in Essex. The train