[image milde.tif]
[caption:    
This little three-wheeler is a curiosity of the Rochetaille~e museum.
With two electric motors it could travel at 12.5 mph for about 2 hours.
]         
         
                             1900
         
         The name of Charles Mildé is nowadays virtually for-
         gotten, but from the end of the 19th century until
         1909, his factory in the Rue Desrenaudes in Paris
         turned out excellent motor cars and commercial vehi-
         cles powered by electricity. Milde also built some "gas-
         oline electrics," with gasoline engines driving gen-
         erators, which in turn drove electric motors.
           The 1900 three-wheeler at the Le Mans museum is
         perfectly preserved and typifies the sound, sturdy
         Mild~ approach to design. As far as the body is con-
         cerned, it is little more than a seat for two people,
         mounted on three wheels, but the mechanism is of
         considerable interest.
         
         52
           The batteries are placed under the seat, and there
         are two electric motors, one for each of the rear driv-
         ing wheels. They are geared down through a small pin-
         ion on the motor and a large, internally geared crown
         wheel applied directly to the wheel. The whole electri-
         cal unit forms part of the rear axle, suspended on leaf
         springs. The motors are of the composite band type,
         and from a combination of the two in series and paral-
         lel, a large number of forward speeds and reverse can
         be obtained, with the car running very sweetly.
           The frame is a tubular structure with some sem-
         blance to a modern space frame. The steering is through
         a wheel, a stout vertical column, and a complex arrange-
         ment of wheels and chains that turn the front wheel on
         rollers running in fixed circular guides-a sound but
         heavy process. The wheelbase between the rear axle and
         the single front wheel is 61 inches and the rear track is
         45.5 inches. The rear tires have to support a concentra-
         tion of weight on the axle, and measure 880x120, but
         these are possibly not as originally fitted.
           The weight of the Milde tricar is given as 320 kg
         (over 700 pounds), and in view of the scanty capacity
         of the batteries, its range cannot have been more than
         20-25 miles, at a maximum speed of 12.5 mph. Cer-
         tainly the small lantern above the front wheel does not
         suggest long-distance driving!