The History, Evolution, and Role of the Automobile in Modern Society

The automobile has evolved as an important form of transportation and a means of showing off wealth. From the steam car to the modern electric car, this course explains the impact of the automobile on human life through history and technological advances, and discusses environmental issues and the development of alternative energy vehicles.

 

Can you find a person who has ever walked the earth who has never ridden in a car? If you can, it’s probably a primitive people who hasn’t yet embraced modern civilization. Cars are a universal and important form of transportation. Nowadays, they’re also widely used for sports, such as racing in F1, and as a way to show off your wealth by posting expensive cars like Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini on social media. The automobile is a historic invention that is deeply embedded in human life. However, many people get their driver’s license and don’t know why they need to press the clutch to start and change gears along the way, they just know they need to do it.
A car is a vehicle that transmits power from its own engine to its wheels to carry passengers or cargo. The English word “automobile” comes from the Greek word “autos” and the Latin word “movere” (to move), meaning “to move on its own”. The reason cars were invented was to efficiently transport goods or benefits over long distances. If you had a job that took you three to four hours to get to on foot, it would be a huge waste of time without transportation, and when you got there, you would be physically exhausted and unable to do your job properly. Although primitive forms of transportation already existed, such as carts and horses, people wanted a faster and less energy-consuming way to get around, and the car was born.
The first automobile was a steam car built in 1769 by French engineer Nicolas Joseph Quignot for the purpose of moving cannons. These cars were popular in Europe, mainly as suburban buses, but they were heavy and took a long time to prepare for travel. The first gasoline car was invented in 1885 by Karl Benz, who later founded the German car company Benz. It was a three-wheeled car with one wheel in the front and two in the back. From the 1900s onwards, history is divided according to the advancements in design and technology. Although it’s not always possible to categorize each era exactly, academics usually use the following method.
The period from 1900-1918 is called the Brass Age, and it’s when the standard of automobile construction as we know it was set. The first car company, Panar Lebasso, was founded, creating a drive design called the “System Panar” and standardizing car construction. The Brass Age also saw the first driver’s licenses and car races. The years 1919-1929 are referred to as the vintage period and 1930-1946 as the pre-war period. While the Brass Age defined the structure of the automobile, these two periods saw the invention of most of the technology. By the Great Depression, hundreds of automobile companies were engaged in mass production and technology development. The engine was located in the front of the car, and the development of the internal combustion engine led to the creation of luxury cars. Front-wheel drive, in which the front wheels turn to drive, was also invented and applied. The automobile industry reached maturity during the Great Depression, when the number of automakers was reduced through mergers and acquisitions. The period 1946-1974 is known as the post-war period, which saw new automobile designs, many elegant-looking cars, and significant increases in engine power and speed. The spread of automobiles around the world led to a major trend toward smaller cars. Key technological advances include the popularization of independent suspension and the development of fuel injection.
Finally, in the modern era after 1975, chassis and engine platforms were shared between different companies to reduce development and production costs. Computer-aided design (CAD), which allows design information stored in a computer to be displayed on a graphical display, has made it possible to design sophisticated curved surfaces and shapes. As the environmental problems caused by exhaust emissions have become more serious, environmentally friendly cars that use alternative fuels such as electricity and hydrogen are also being researched.
An automobile is a very complex machine with more than 30,000 parts. The two main parts are the body frame, which is the skeleton, and the chassis, which is the functional part. To generate the power needed to drive a car, the engine moves pistons, which burn fuel and oxygen in cylinders to create a hot, high-pressure expansion of gas that causes the pistons to move up and down. This up-and-down motion is converted into rotational motion at the crankshaft, which is called cranking motion. Cranking can be analogized to bicycling. The up and down motion of the pedals is converted into rotational motion of the wheels through the chain, which causes the bike to move forward. The up and down motion of the piston is achieved through a four-stroke cycle. It goes in this order: intake-compression-power-exhaust. As the piston descends, the internal pressure in the cylinder decreases and a mixture of fuel and air is ‘sucked in’. As the piston rises again, the inhaled gas is ‘compressed’. The compressed mixture is then explosively ignited by the spark plug, pushing the piston down under the pressure of the combustion gases. The exhaust valve opens to let out the burned gas, which is then ‘exhausted’ and the piston rises. After four strokes, the piston makes two reciprocating motions. The burned exhaust gas is released into the atmosphere after removing toxic gas components through a catalytic converter. The heat generated by the engine can damage parts around the engine, so coolant is added to cool it down. The power generated by the engine is transmitted to the flywheel as a rotational force, which in turn is transmitted to the transmission. In the case of Type 1, the clutch is depressed to prevent the rotational force from being transmitted through the transmission to the wheels. When you engage the clutch and slowly release the pedal, the clutch disk presses against the flywheel face and transmits power to the wheels. In the case of the second type, there is no clutch, but a device called a torque converter that automatically adjusts the hydraulic pressure to create the shifts. However, because of the reaction time and energy lost, it is not as responsive or fuel-efficient as the first type.
When power is transmitted to the wheels, it is divided into front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and all-wheel drive depending on whether the power is transmitted to the front, rear, or all four wheels. Most cars in Korea use front-wheel drive, which is stronger in corners and in the rain, and rear-wheel drive, which is stable when driving straight and fast, is used in European luxury sedans. Some cars have all-wheel drive to deliver enough power to climb mountain slopes. To slow a car down, brakes are used: foot brakes, which are applied with the foot, apply hydraulic pressure from the oil to all the wheels to stop them, and hand brakes, which are located next to the driver’s seat, stop the car more quickly because the brake drum presses directly against the connecting parts of the rear wheels.
As the most important means of transportation in modern society, cars have had a huge impact and significance on humanity. With 1.14 cars per household, cars are a necessity for every household, and parking is a consideration when choosing a place to live. However, cars are expensive and costly to maintain, so if you are looking for efficiency, you should prefer light and small cars that can be used for a long time and do not require much maintenance. However, many people are buying mid-sized cars and luxury supercars that cost over a billion dollars because they feel that a car is not only a means of transportation, but also a sign of their social status. Many people feel superior to others if they own an expensive foreign car. For example, if a man in a couple wants to buy a car, even if he can’t afford it, he will take out a loan to buy a luxury car in order to show his girlfriend an expensive car and win her favor. This kind of materialism is especially prevalent in Korea.
On the other hand, automobiles are a collection of advanced technologies such as steel, glass, sensors, and engines, so it can be said that it is a core field of mechanical engineering and heavy industry-based industries. Few countries develop their own automobile engines, so the degree of automobile technology development is an indicator of a country’s engineering skills. Since the development of driverless cars, it has also played an important role in software and communication.
There are more than a billion cars on the road in the world. The amount of exhaust emitted by cars is enormous, causing serious environmental pollution such as global warming, acid rain, and desertification. Since the modern era, there have been many ideas to develop eco-friendly cars using alternative energy as a countermeasure. Representative alternative energies include electricity, hydrogen, solar power, and organic fuels. Currently, the most commercialized and sold are hybrid cars that use a combination of electricity and gasoline. Beyond hybrids, electric cars are also being developed that run on electricity alone. Although electric cars have fewer drawbacks, they aren’t completely green. This is because they use thermal power to generate electricity. Hydrogen cars, which are fueled by hydrogen obtained by splitting water with sunlight and electricity, are more environmentally friendly, but they need to be stored as liquid hydrogen for large capacities, which is not easy to do since its boiling point is -252 degrees Celsius. Also, storing hydrogen at high pressure poses a safety issue due to its flammability and the risk of explosion. Solar-powered cars are greener and safer than hydrogen cars, but the efficiency of solar cells requires a huge number of solar panels to be installed. Since they can only face the sun during the day, it’s difficult to pre-charge electricity for use at night, so there needs to be a way to increase the efficiency of solar cells and reduce their size.
In the 340 years since the car was first created, it has undergone many changes in structure and function, thanks to the development of several innovative technologies. The development of the automobile and the mechanical industry have gone hand in hand, and even so, cars are constantly being researched with a focus on the future, with driverless cars and environmental cars.