The Automobile industry is one of the most important phenomenon to mankind. It is the bloodline of our lives. In this Essay I will discuss in brief about where the industry started out, how far it has come and the noteworthy changes that are occurring in the automobile industry today.
Before there were cars, People used ‘horses and carriage’, ‘carts’ and canal boats to transport goods and people. Automobiles became more of a necessity as the trade industry evolved and people started to require and desire a higher standard of living. The automobile industry has had a permanent place in society since the 1800’s however the idea of the self-propelled road vehicle dates from at least as early as the speculations made by Roger Bacon and Leonardo da Vinci in the 13th and 15th centuries. (Flink 1998). During the 19th century, the development was multi-national with the first ‘automobile’ as we know it being invented by Karl Benz in 1885/1886. The major developments that took place were largely due to the evolution of a modern urban-industrial social order in Western Europe and the United States being more important than Sociocultural differences reflected by national political boundaries. This resulted in a widely disseminated, shared state of scientific and technical knowledge. (Flink 1998). The rise of the automobile industry and the socioeconomic impact of the road and the car are central to the history of the advanced capitalist countries in the twentieth century such as in Germany, France and Italy during both world wars. Automobiles were needed to transport Soldiers, weaponry and other necessary resources to and from the frontline. Automobiles also explain a large part of the history of the American people. (Flink, 1998).
The growth of a mass market in conjunction with changes in the role of economic and social policy, alongside public policy decisions, lead to the creation of our contemporary automobile culture Industry. (Flink, 1998).
Today, As the population of the world continues to boom during the 21st century and cities continue to expand and develop into megacities, the quest of developing an ideal automobile infrastructure is becoming significantly more important to all governments administration in particular in the western world. (Lang et al, 2017).The three main issues with mobility and infrastructure that are currently calling for these changes are Fatalities, Traffic congestion and Sustainability.
With cities becoming more and more dense with office blocks and population, congestion appears to be at its worst all over the world. Many people are spending a large portion of their day transporting themselves to and from work and so are pressing for a changing solution.
Estimations about the extent of this change can be inferred by answering the following
two questions: (a) what are the potential changes in mobility and the implications for society associated with the introduction of automated driving and, (b) to what extent
are these changes synchronized with broader concurrent societal transformations that could enhance the radical dynamic of such mobility technology?
The primary issue with regards vehicle development is safety. There has been many advances in this area with the creation of Cruise Control (CC), Adaptive Cruise control (ACC) and, most recently, the Cooperative Adaptive cruise control (CACC) where both piezo stacks, throttle and brake pedals, are controlled using a pre-defined gap with the preceding vehicle. In urban areas, systems like emergency braking with assistance of active suspension (Lin and Ting, 2007) automatic parking (Hsu et al, 2008) or blind angle vehicle detection are also contributing toward a safer driving in populated areas. These systems improve safety, comfort, transport time and energy consumption. Such systems are known as advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) and have been implemented in many ranges of cars.
The present quest for the Automobile industry is the creation, implementation and development of Autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicles are often referred to as driverless vehicles. They are wired to recognise infrastructure, certain roadworks.
Autonomous vehicles have been widely researched throughout the western world but a major city that has invested in the concept is Boston with the creation of “The GoBoston 30” initiative developed by Boston Government administration in conjunction with ‘The Boston Consulting group’ and ‘The World Economic Forum’. It was developed when they recognised the need for sustainable and equitable future transport that will in turn enhance the residents economic opportunities through mobility. The keyword throughout the initiative is “Zero”, ‘Zero fatalities’, ‘Zero injuries’, ‘Zero disparities’, ‘Zero emissions’ and ‘Zero stress’. 1.
At Present these Autonomous vehicles are only being tested in a small patch in the Seaport District of Boston. In a recent article published by the Boston Consulting group, they expressed their wishes to have the idea rolled out throughout the whole district of Boston and eventually throughout the entire city and its suburbs.
Benefits and Implications:
Fagnant & Kockelman, 2015 discuss the first-order implications of automated vehicles on travel cost, road capacity, and travel choices. They also explored the potential implications for both the fixed (capital) cost of owning an automated vehicle and the generalized transport cost (GTC), which comprises of effort and travel time. Current automated vehicle applications cost several times the price of a conventional vehicle in the US, but the price could be gradually reduced to $3000 or even lower with mass production and the technological advances of automated vehicles. (Fagnant & Kockelman, 2015)
The fIxed costs of automated vehicles will very likely be higher than for conventional vehicles due to the advanced hardware and software technology involved. The increased fixed cost could in influence the penetration rate and subsequently the magnitude of the effects of automated vehicles. The GTC, on the other hand, is expected to decrease because of lower e ort, time, and money needed to travel. (Fagnant & Kockelman, 2015)
In terms of road capacity the higher the level of automation, cooperation and penetration rate, the higher the positive impact on road capacity. In terms of numbers, It is estimated that a 40% penetration rate of CACC appears to be a critical threshold for realizing significant benefits on capacity (>10%), while a 100% penetration rate of CACC could theoretically double capacity. Capacity might be affected by vehicle heterogeneity. Capacity could also decrease in entrance/exit of automated highway systems. (Arnaout & Bowling, 2011)