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 battery/electric trains became operational on the through services on the Fukuhoku Yutaka Line in October 2016, which is electrified at 20 kV AC and the non-electrified Chikuhō Main Line, known as the "Wakamatsu Line", between Orio and Wakamatsu. A new EV-E801 series two-car BEMU train was introduced on the long non-electrified Oga Line in Akita Prefecture in March 2017. This differs from the earlier EV-E301 series train in being recharged from a 20 kV AC overhead supply instead of a 1,500 V DC overhead supply. Auckland Council has purchased 17 battery/electric trains from CAF in Spain, to operate between Britomart