By Steve Ford, The Car Guy ®
In more than 100 years of evolution of the automobile, the times we live in today - at the start of a new century - may ultimately take the form of a true “sequel to the beginning” in a larger story of transportation history. After all, even after so many dramatic technological breakthroughs in the 20th century, much of what took place underneath the sheet metal of global automobiles was relatively incremental in nature.
Consider the fact that when you roll the calendar back to 1902 the internal combustion engine (commonly referred to by engineers today as the “ICE”) was not the sole contender as the “power plant of tomorrow.” Electric vehicles (EVs) and steam-powered vehicles were both in a fierce race with the ICE as the best method to power “horseless carriages.” And with no noise, smelly exhaust, oil leaks and no requirement for hand-cranking to start, EVs were favored by many in the early days of the motor vehicle.
Yet the early EVs were destined for failure when the gasoline ICE in the 1912 Cadillac debuted with an electric self-starter. It marked one of the single most dramatic motor vehicle advancements of the past century. Even though other "self-starters" had been experimented with by other automakers of the time - including designs that used electricity, compressed air or acetylene - none had the reliability or compact size of the Cadillac's. These two advantages were afforded by the ingenious application of what the electric starter's creator - Charles “Boss” Kettering - had learned from his prior work at the National Cash Register Co. It was Kettering's earlier miniaturization of an efficient electric motor that enabled cash registers to transition from hand-cranking to electric-cranking.
EVs Lose Out to the ICE
With Cadillac's debut of the reliable and mass-produced self-starter, it was only a year before most other automakers were adopting a similar electric self-starter. The earlier advantage of “instant starting” that EVs claimed was suddenly swept away and now the ICE-powered vehicles were marketed with "self-starters" and longer “travel range.” The open road beckoned American motorists, and with a gasoline infrastructure rapidly unfolding, EVs began to fade from the scene by 1915.
Perhaps even more profound: Once the self-starter arrived, it secured a century-long "standstill" on what would propel the 20th century automobile. With few exceptions, the gasoline ICE has remained much like it was at the time of the Cadillac self-starter's arrival: a four-stroke cycle, gasoline-fueled, spark-plug-ignited, reciprocating-mass. Even as variations of 4-, 6-, 8-, 12- and 16-cylinder engines were produced during subsequent decades with innovative new valve trains, the principal ICE operation didn't change.
Naturally, history shows that from the 1920s through the 1950s, other aspects of the automobile had advancements. Mechanical brakes became hydraulic, then power-boosted, drum to disk; transmissions went from manual to automatic; air conditioning arrived; and manual power steering received hydraulic assist. Even as terrific as these technology improvements were, they occurred over many decades and in slow motion compared to what we are witnessing today. In fact, from the year 2050 it might appear more like the automotive industry didn't really begin to accelerate until about 2002.
Breakthroughs at Wide Open Throttle
We last changed the battery voltage standard in 1955, from a six-volt to a 12-volt system. Now, almost 50 years later and with overlapping arrivals, we have witnessed - or are about to witness - the introduction of wireless telematics: integrated vehicle cellular/on-board diagnostics (OBD) and Global Positioning System (GPS)-location-based tracking. Specific examples of telematics include remote diagnostics via General Motors Corp.'s OnStar and Ford Motor Co.'s Wingcast. We have also witnessed the 1999 arrival of the newest hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles with simultaneous introduction of the integrated starter/generators. Ahead is the first 36-volt standard with 2003 models in Europe (42-volt-generator). Also around the corner, a wireless on-board vehicle system intranet with a local 30-foot area network called “Bluetooth” will start to expand in global vehicles by 2003; and “X-by-Wire” or drive-by-wire with steering and braking becoming electrically controlled and actuated. Meanwhile, both U.S. and Japanese automakers are preparing to launch the world's first hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered EVs slated for production by 2004.
Suddenly, inside the current eight-year period - between 1996 and 2004 - we are experiencing the arrival of telematics/remote diagnostics, hybrid gas/EV power trains, integrated starter/generators, 42-volt electrical systems, drive-by-wire, fuel-cell/hydrogen power and wireless vehicle subsystems. What is more profound is that if you pause and reread this list, each one of these technologies represents a potential paradigm shift for vehicle technology and service.
Meanwhile, BMW is researching and developing a hydrogen-fueled ICE that aims to supplant the gasoline ICE and spews nothing but water vapor out the tailpipe. And in one more example of the many simultaneous technology quests, almost every automaker is racing to reinvent the diesel engine - which may be refined into a remarkably clean power plant for a “second wind” into passenger cars during the 21st century. After all, outside of eliminating sulfur in diesel fuel and capturing suspected carcinogenic soot particles from the exhaust, the diesel is vastly more powerful and fuel-efficient than the current gasoline ICE.
20th Century Standstill
In a way, it is as if technology under the hood had been on “hold” for much of the 20th century. The car should be clean, fuel efficient, safe, reliable and certainly fun to drive. Including the muscle car era, the 20th century was mostly about looking good and being fun to drive. Yet with a small planet that has nonrenewable atmosphere, we have now entered a time of fixing the remaining shortcomings of the car: dirty exhaust, highway and vehicle crashes that take our friends and loved ones, and “lifecycle management” - designing and accommodating 100 percent recyclable automobiles.
Just as the industry had competing technologies in 1902, in 2002 we have several different technologies claiming similar promises as tomorrow's propulsion solution. And after a century of evolution, the ICE still only extracts approximately 15 percent of the energy contained in a gallon of gasoline.
The 80 MPG Car
Following the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, the nation was stunned to feel the impact of even a marginal scarcity of oil. Through the remainder of the 1970s and into the 1980s, government and industry scrambled for solutions.
“When Congress passed the Cooperative Free Trade amendment in 1984, it introduced a new era for partnerships between government and industry,” said Bob Culver, executive director of the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR). “This opened the way for the Advanced Composites Consortium in 1988, and the Advanced Battery Consortium and Environmental Research Consortiums formed in 1991.” By 1992, the Clinton administration recognized these groups and other growing numbers of independent “consortia” and added seven other like-minded organizations to join under the umbrella title USCAR.
USCAR was established to unite and marshal the collaborative forces of the otherwise competitive activities of the traditional "Big 3" Detroit automakers (GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler) under direction of the Department of Commerce. USCAR established a goal of developing technologies that would result in a vehicle that would deliver three times the then-current Big 3 sedan average of 26.5 miles per gallon, or 80 mpg by 2004.
Ultimately, as the adage many engineers will tell you, “There's no such thing as a scheduled breakthrough,” and as we have arrived at 2002, USCAR has recognized limitations on its 2004 goal of an 80 mpg automobile. Instead, what is noble and notable about the USCAR venture is that it contributed to successful research and developments by the Big 3 that helped advance the subsystems of today's hybrids and will contribute to tomorrow's fuel-cell vehicles - among other R&D efforts. Because its “single objective” of achieving the 80 mpg car was arbitrary in nature and unprecedented in engineering, USCAR is revising its mission and has adopted a new name: FreedomCAR.
At the January 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that under the Bush administration, USCAR will carry forward the research developments achieved during the past eight years and consolidate them toward a revised government-industry partnership.
“With USCAR we established advancements in a range of specific technologies that include lightweight materials, advanced batteries, improved recycling and reduced emissions,” said Culver. “And a big emphasis of these technologies has contributed to current hybrid vehicle engineering solutions.”
“FreedomCAR is in many ways a leap forward toward a focused effort beyond today's hybrid vehicles,” Culver explained. “Now that hybrids are here, we are looking at the longer-term goal of helping to move vehicles to a hydrogen economy.”
The Hydrogen Economy
According to the American Petroleum Institute, there are approximately 180,000 gas stations in the United States. The California Fuel Cell Partnership estimates the nation would need 500 hydrogen filling stations as part of the hydrogen infrastructure to serve an initial fuel-cell vehicle fleet size of 40,000 vehicles, as an example. At a cost-per-station estimated at $450,000, the financial commitment to a hydrogen economy is staggering.
However, it is in times of challenge that humanity has made its greatest strides. The Romans created the aqueduct to bring water to otherwise uninhabitable regions. Thomas Edison claimed to have discovered “a thousand ways not to make the light bulb” before he introduced the incandescent bulb. (He also filed a patent for an automobile electric self-starter!) And some folks once told a guy named Magellan that the earth was flat.
This brings us up to today in this story of “Hydrogen, Horsepower and the Silent Power of the Fuel Cell.” Join us here next month for Part II of this technology and service preview when I'll address the future of automobile technology and service: “Competing Technologies for Power, Precision and the Wireless Service Bay.”
In the meantime, to keep optimism in these times, remember that the reason you might recall the name Magellan is because he sailed around the globe, not off of it.
| Steve Ford, The Car Guy ® is a Detroit-based automotive print/radio/TV journalist and ASE advanced-level L1 certified automotive technician/ instructor. You can e-mail him at thecarguy@thecarguy.com; his Web site is www.thecarguy.com.
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