Are humans at the peak of transportation efficiency? Have we reached the roof of our mechanical productivity? Humans have made remarkable automotive strides in the last 50 years, especially when it comes to how we move around daily. But there's still more to achieve. We'll explore how embracing electronics in the automobile industry has drastically improved human transportation efficiency and the automotive electronics applications that make such efficiency possible.
The Stone Age to the Ford Model T: Revolutionizing Transportation
For nearly 3.4 million years, the most advanced tools were made from stone. It wasn't until 3,000 BC that our tools started advancing into alloy materials like bronze, and our ability to make more effective tools (like the wheel) grew. Bronze was swiftly replaced by iron and steel as early as 1300 BC, allowing these tools to become even stronger and resilient. People were able to travel further, faster. By the Medieval period, metal tools, machines, weapons, and vehicles revolutionized nearly all aspects of life. The advancements made in the 1,000 years of the Medieval period were more drastic than the 3.4 million years before it.
Only a few centuries later, during the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing processes enabled mass production. With the dawn of mass production came another exponential leap in tool and machine efficiency. The idea of design tolerances―limits of variation in the size or shape of a manufactured product―became essential to manufacturing, and the art of machining made components interchangeable on a mass scale. Bulk production of bicycles and automobiles made them affordable for the masses. For the first time, the ability to travel over short and long distances meant the world was getting smaller―or at least feeling that way.
When the Ford Model T made its way onto the road in 1908, its internal combustion engine achieved nearly 21 miles per gallon of gasoline. Humans were now using chemistry and mechanical systems to move around on a massive scale, and it was both affordable and scalable. Much like comparing the Medieval period to the Stone Age, the century following the unveiling of the Model T would see growth that outpaced the previous 5,000 years and was nearly incomparable to the three million before that.
But for nearly half a century after the Model T debuted, nothing about automobiles drastically changed. Cars got bigger and faster, but the efficiency and innovation that revolutionized the world in 1908 remained stagnant. The exponential progress of tool efficiency between the Stone Age and the turn of the 20th century seemed to come to a screeching halt.
Automobile Fuel Efficiency Standards: The Birth of Automotive Efficiency
American fuel efficiency actually got worse in the half-century following the Model T, as demand for more powerful cars grew. It wasn't until the US Congress enacted the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations in 1975 that the words "efficiency" and "automobile" started to show up in the same sentence. After the famous American muscle car era in the 1960s and early '70s, cars faced a new challenge―they had to get better, not just faster.
American automotive manufacturers needed to change the way cars worked, both inside and outside of the vehicle. By 1980, electronics and computer technology came to the automobile's rescue, ready to shock the automotive industry to its core. Electronics would quickly join the chemical and mechanical orchestra and usher in the next transportation revolution.
Fuel Efficient Cars: Electronic Carburetors & Beyond
While electronics were present in automobiles before the 1970s, engineers mostly used them to help create more powerful systems and accessorize vehicles. But by the end of the decade, efficiency was the focal point of the automotive industry―from luxury supercars to the most affordable car in America. This shift in priorities didn't mean stripping the power and muscle from the core of the industry; rather, engineers focused on creating cars that could do more with less.
By 1985, the Chevrolet Sprint boasted 53 miles per gallon (MPG) of gasoline on the highway and 44 MPG in the city, quadrupling the average fuel efficiency of cars from the decade before. Its secret: an electronically controlled carburetor and a precisely engineered engine that was both compact and pleasantly powerful.
Cars themselves weren't the only things receiving the electronic treatment in the automotive industry. Machining and manufacturing processes grew increasingly accurate, thanks to the adoption of new electronic controls systems that made it possible to produce these lightweight and powerful engines. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, advancement in manufacturing accelerated at an exponential pace. Accurate component machining throughout vehicles brought on higher thermal utilization and a more efficient transfer of energy across the board.
Average MPG Over Time
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tracked the average fuel efficiency of automobiles since 1975. In the image below, you can see that fuel utilization and carbon dioxide emissions have improved nearly two-fold since the inception of the CAFE regulations.
Source: EPA Automotive Trends Report
Electronics are critical in controlling nearly every aspect of the modern automobile. Some of the most expensive elements of cars became the electronics systems themselves. Here are a few examples:
- Mechanical sensors―such as speedometers―became electric
- Carburetors became electronically controlled fuel injection systems
- Users can monitor tire pressure using wireless sensors and transmitters
Electric Vehicle Innovation
After the efficiency boom between 1975 and 1985, the automotive industry experienced a period of stagnation similar to the one between the Model T and the early 1970s. From the mid-1980s to the early 2000s, automotive efficiency peaked and slightly declined. This stagnation was likely a result of a newly realized technology being utilized to maximize power. Adding electronics increased automobiles' weight, as extensive wiring harnesses and new electronics systems proved to be heavy, ultimately decreasing average vehicle efficiency. However, by the early 2000s, a new kind of automobile promised to revolutionize the automotive industry―electric vehicles.
Electric Vehicles (EVs) come in a variety of configurations:
- Fully hybrid electric vehicles (FHEV)
- Plug-in electric vehicles (PEV)
- Fully electric vehicles (FEV), also known as battery electric vehicles (BEV)
Naturally, vehicles that utilize an alternative source of energy are bound to reduce carbon emissions associated with ICE vehicles. They also increase the average mile per gallon, thereby increasing industry-wide efficiencies. The increase in hybrid and fully electric vehicles in the last 15 years has led us to the modern day, where some of the most influential automotive companies are dealing in record-setting efficiency.
Source: EPA: The Top 13 worldwide automotive manufacturer's average fuel efficiency
Electronics & Fuel Efficiency: Technology for the Future
The automotive industry is the most efficient it has ever been, and it continues to increase its efficiency with advancements like:
- Computer-assisted aerodynamic design
- Fine-tuned engines
- Hybrid technology
- Fully electric vehicles
- Reduced carbon emissions
Manufacturers continue to improve internal combustion engines' thermal efficiency, and more are turning to electric power in their vehicles. Electronic systems may swiftly revolutionize the automotive industry to an unrecognizable state.