Introduction
The first gasoline powered automobile was built 1885 in Germany. The first car was engineered by Henry Ford in 1896. He took things a notch higher by establishing an assembly line which enabled him to mass produce the vehicles thus making them affordable to the consumers.
The use of automobiles has since increased in the US and other parts of the world. By 1999, the US alone had over 200 million passenger cars and light trucks. The number of cars worldwide grew thrice faster than the human population. The increase in the number of automobiles has become a matter of great concern as it leads to serious air pollution. For instance, European Environment Agency reported that transportation emission presents a huge threat to the environment.
1. Global competition in the industry:
During the first half of this century, automobile imports were negligible on American roads. For instance in 1950s, only 21,287 automobiles were imported and local manufacturers ignored their presence in the belief that the imports were small and low quality. However, foreign automobiles have since set the quality benchmark and in 1986 reached an all-time high of 4.1 million units. In 1980s the big three auto makers (Ford, General Motors, and Fiat/Chrysler) formed joint ventures with Japanese automakers in order to capitalize on consumer attitude towards foreign automobiles. In 2004, the automobile manufacturers formed the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to work together on
Automobiles play a major role in today's society. Almost every American owns at least one motorized transportation vehicle. Some say they make our lives better by reaching places faster than before. Others say they are a harmful to the environment. Have they made our society better or worse? They may be fast, but do we as humans want our environment to suffer because of time. Face it, cars pollute. And they release destructive chemicals into the air. Air pollution can threaten the health of many subjects in the environment including human beings.
The number one reason why electric cars became popular is the ability to reduce the air pollution. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) almost 30% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by transportation and most of them could be reduced by driving electric cars. The UK Department for Transport divides vehicle emissions in two categories: direct and life cycle. Direct emission are created by burning fuels while driving on the road. Petrol, diesel, and other alternative-fuel engines produce very high amounts of gases, that not only have impact on our health, but also on climate change. Gases like NO or CO2, that are known for causing many different respiratory illness. There is an estimate of 29,000 deaths a
Introduction Automobile usage has increased in America and elsewhere in the world. In a research done by Sutherland, J., et al. (2004) “The US has a contributed to 200 million passengers in cars and light truck over the past few years. Further in 1990, studies showed that US cars increased six times faster than human population. The leaders in the automotive industry must adopt some key elements to ensure success in this fast-moving environment. They must invest in knowing their markets, building brands, adapting product strategies and taking long-term view on their goals and objectives. This paper outlines some of the key factors which should be considered. Environmental factors automotive designers and engineers have always said the main threats in the American Automotive industry are the environmental factors such as fuel economy and the clean air regulations. Automotive Emission posed different problems than manufacturing discharges such as coal smoke. Increased fossil-fuel emission has resulted from the million car increase. Irritation smog, which is comprised of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur oxide and other various chemical mixtures are cited in major cities such as Los Angeles. These auto emissions are also said to cause headaches, visual pollutions, contribute to lung cancers and other respiratory disease. In the end, the engineers have designed cars that are better environmental performers, cost effective and fuel efficient to reduce the environmental
Pollution has become a heated issue in recent years. The destruction of the environment along with serious health problems are the eventual effects. The extensive use and availability of automobiles, tremendous amounts of production in the booming economy and the constant increase in demand for energy, can be held responsible.
First, cars pollute the environment. In 2012 the EPA reported that a whopping 28% of emissions came from transportation. As it says in the article “Running off the Road”, by Grover Kingsley, “With their largely petroleum based fuel, cars constantly spew carbon monoxide into the air.” We are responsible for the
America had a global competition as it was not the only country who had the industry. China, South Korea, Japan and India were also procuring automobiles. In 1995 America and Japan made an agreement on having more outlets in each countries, to be able to sell their products. This agreement created job opportunity and made their cars and parts available in both countries. This agreement also invented computation. Japan was producing good quality and affordable automobile such as Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and more. Japan’s automobile became well known all over the world.
The automobiles made a huge impact in United States history. The first car was the electric car and was one of the most popular cars but didn’t have a battery that lasted or could go fast. Then the steam-powered car was built and lasted into the 1920s, but the price was high and there was a risk of the engine exploding, so the car wasn’t very popular. The gas-powered cars became very popular in the 1920s and Ford sold over a million automobiles.
If someone asks, “What was the first American car?” Many would answer, “Ford’s Model-T.” However, Henry Ford had been manufacturing cars for over a decade before the introduction of the Model-T. The first American car was most likely the Baushke "Autymobile" built in 1894. During that time period there was a boom in start-up manufactures of the new “Horseless Carriage” machines, everybody in the coach and bicycle industry was jumping at the chance to build one. Dozens of manufactures came and went, but a few of those early start-ups still exist today.
Every day, millions of Americans turn on the engines of their cars and drive to school or work. What these people do not realize is that the vehicles they operate greatly pollute the planet. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent website post, “Environmental Impacts from Automobiles”,
Climate change and transportation play a big role and it is important to be concerned for our future generations. The use of gasoline cars is a major producer in carbon dioxide emissions, although they are not entirely responsible for it—they play a role in it. Other form of transportations like buses and taxis also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions from an average car is seventy six percent which comes from usage of a vehicle containing gasoline. Efficiency has increased by twenty percent in regards to electric motors, especially when it comes to their wheels using no power when the car is at rest. Car ownership will increase and with this, improvements in technology could be a vital
“Automobiles have a large impact on the quality of our environment and public health. Automobile use affects virtually every aspect of environmental quality - including noise levels, air quality, water pollution, and urban sprawl. Ninety percent of the environmental impact of automobiles occurs through the operation of the cars: about 10 percent from the production, raw materials and disposal of
The amount of factories and industries has grown immensely through the previous years which has resulted in an expansion in the consumption of petroleum products. Innovation has begun to increase and has promoted the expansion of the production of cars. As stated by the Air Quality Research Center, “Air pollution is one of the most dangerous environmental problems, causing many adverse health effects and responsible for 50,000 deaths in the U.S. each year” (Air Pollution and Health – Air Quality Research Center.). The smog and
The invention and use of the internal combustion engine was a pivotal point in the history of the automobile. The first attempt at an internal combustion engine was in 1673 by Christian Huygens, using gunpowder as the fuel source, though it was basically worthless as you had to open the engine up and put new gunpowder in it after every single stroke ("The Fuel & Engine"). This lack of a fuel for internal combustion engines sidelined its development for a couple hundred years. In 1860 Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir built the first effective internal combustion engine using natural gas (Bottorff). The ignition of the gas would create a vacuum and the resulting pressure difference between the vacuum and the atmosphere would drive the power stroke (Bottorff). This gas-atmospheric engine, as it is known, was an effective system capable generating 20hp, still it was imperfect. It was further improved with the development
In 1861 a German engineer named Nikolaus August Otto built his first gasoline-powered engine. Three years later he would team up with Eugen Langen to form the Deutz Gas Engine Factory. Otto’s engine was based on the same principles of Lenoir’s. It was also a two-stroke engine with one cylinder but it used the different type of fuel, gasoline rather than coal gas. Otto and Langen learned of a way to gain more efficiency by compressing the gas before combustion in 1867. This led them to production of the first four-stroke
Over the years, the U. S. auto industry's market has been experiencing fluctuations due to many reasons including: price, quality and foreign competition. General Motors Corporation (GM) which had been the leading car and truck manufacturer had been experiencing declining market share and facing stiff competition from both U.S manufacturers and foreign imports such as the Asian auto producers that included Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The main reason for increased foreign competition was that foreign cars were more fuel efficient, smaller, less expensive, and often more reliable than their American counterparts.