The Evolution of Automobiles
Automobiles have become one of the most dominant means of transportation in the world. The automobile has had a tremendous influence on the development of societies and countries, both in their role as personal vehicles and as engines for economic growth. There are an estimated 1.4 billion passenger cars on the road today.
The modern automobile is a complex technical system. It consists of several structural and mechanical systems. The main system is the body, which holds passengers and storage space. The body sits on the chassis, which is a metal frame that supports other system components. These include the internal-combustion engine, which runs on a volatile fuel, and the steering and braking systems, which control motion. The system also includes subsystems, such as cooling, lubrication, and power transmission.
Inventors and engineers began working on self-propelled vehicles as early as the 1800s, but it was Karl Benz who is widely credited with developing the first true automobile in 1885. Other inventors and engineers, such as Gottlieb Daimler, Emile Levassor, and Nicolaus Otto of Germany, soon followed with their own designs. By 1910, American businessman and engineer Henry Ford revolutionized the production process of automobiles. This enabled the manufacture of vehicles at lower costs, allowing more people to afford them.
From the 1920s on, manufacturers based their design strategies on marketing concepts and mass production techniques. They designed different makes of automobiles that used the same parts, enabling consumers to move up from one model to another as their fortunes improved. This strategy was a major factor in the rise of the Big Three American automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.
In the 1990s, demand for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars prompted manufacturers to develop sport-utility vehicles (SUVs). By 2010, rising gasoline prices and concern over environmental damage fueled interest in hybrid-electric vehicles.
The automobile opened up new opportunities for work and recreation. It allowed people to travel long distances for work, and it helped them to create new businesses, such as service stations and restaurants. It also ended rural isolation, bringing urban amenities, such as schools and hospitals, to rural America. And it made it possible to create suburbs, where families had their own homes surrounded by grass lawns and other plants.
But the automobile also has its detractors. It was blamed for creating a host of social problems, including pollution, traffic jams, and unsafe driving. People have argued that the automobile is addictive, that it causes obesity and depression, and that it kills people by causing drunk driving accidents.